Duel of the Fates
by Quagmire1
Summary: What happens after the war? Who is Anicka Estralla? Why is there a sixth Gundam? Action, romance and humor ensue. Read on.
1. Book 1

**Prologue**

The year is After Colony 197.  The Earth Sphere Unified Nation has been united for almost a year, but rivalry battles had been appearing on both the Earth and the colonies.  The Gundam pilots have newly rebuilt Gundams, each better than the original model, but they weren't the only ones.  On a remote colony, a new force, unlike any other, was being created.

Book One Part 1 

"The skies seem to be clear, looks like you boys will be getting some sleep tonight," stated Lucrezia Noin to five tired teenage boys.  Two of them smiled, while the other three sat or stood unemotional.

"Finally!  Staying up through all this makes me sick," said Duo Maxwell, one of the smiling boys.

"Yes, it will be good to sleep," said Quatre Raberba Winner in a flat tone.  "Can you keep an eye out for us, Miss Noin?"

"Of course, you pilots need your sleep."

Four boys walked down a hall to one side, while one went to a different hall.  "Where are you going, Heero?" asked Noin.

"I need to shut down Wing Zero for the night," he answered in his usual monotone.

"But I thought you already…" she shouted, then, realizing he didn't hear, or chose not to, said quietly "…did."

"There's something out there, isn't there, Wing Zero?" Heero Yuy said to the motionless mobile suit.  "I know."

Part 2 

"Is it finished?" said the girl in the rust-colored shirt. 

"What's it to you?  It'll be my Gundam, little sis," a young man answered to her.

"You're too old to be a Gundam pilot, Rush!  All the other pilots are my age," Anicka said in retort, "Dolt."

"Twit."

"Jerk."

But before the young man could make another remark, an older man looked up from his welding and said simply, "She's right."  The man sighed, glad he had interrupted the customary insult exchange before it soared to its usual graphic heights.  Anicka looked at her brother, the young man, and stuck her tongue out at him.. 

"Before you say anything, Brent," said their father, the welder, directing this to the brother, "I want you to know that you can pilot anything you want here _except_ this Gundam.  We need your sister to pilot because the other pilots are not only boys, but sympathize women, from what we've heard.  All we're trying to do is stop any hopes for war.  As are the other pilots.  It will be easier for Ani."  The father smiled and went back to his welding.  "You know," he continued, still welding, "we don't even know if anything is even still going on down there.  All we have to go on is the transmission from a few months ago.  But I feel in my bones that battles will go on forever."  The man stopped talking to the rival siblings, feeling that his little speech gave them something to chew on.

Anicka walked into the storage room, where the Gundam had been completed and tucked neatly under a huge storage tarp.  She pulled the tarp away from its head – green with blue eyes and blue spikes protruding from its head – and breathed a single word.  "Swordsong."  Tomorrow, she thought, we will join the fight.

It was the next day.  Swordsong had been packed carefully into a mobile suit carrier, and Anicka was packed and ready to leave.  Her father and brother hugged her to death, knowing that the last woman of the family is leaving, and knowing that they may never see her alive again.  They all said their good-byes, each as sappy as the last, full of 'good lucks' and 'hope to see you agains'.  As Anicka pulled herself into the massive cockpit of the carrier, she had doubts.  Why was she leaving her home?  Will the pilots even accept her?  What will happen when she finds them?  And then she saw herself in the mirrors of the cockpit, the way they would soon see her.  A blue shirt and a simple pair of straight-leg black jeans.  Why wouldn't they accept her? She thought, as the launch sequence reached its last stage and the carrier lifted off into outer space, carrying its single pilot and Gundam to Earth.

Anicka and Swordsong were barely out of communications range from the colony.  She took a farewell look out the window at the double-wheel shaped colony, still having her doubts, accompanied by a sense of impending doom.  Then it happened.  She thought of her family and friends as a hail of meteors hit the oxygen generator in the center of the colony, causing a chain reaction and imploding the colony.  It collapsed in on itself, then burst in a storm of contorted pieces of metal, flying out to space, flying nowhere and reaching nowhere.  Anicka lost her mind in the cockpit, sobbing uncontrollably and searching for a way to join them in death.  She had nowhere else to go – her mother had died when she was born, and now her father and brother were dead.  Her memories of home came flashing before her eyes – the Aries she had used to train in, it had been outfitted with her light saber and Gundam program; her schooling in an all-boys school, with the exception of her; and all the good times she had.  All she could do was cry as she saw the twisted fragments of the colony, burning remnants of her life, gone.  Everything she had ever known was gone, and she would soon arrive on Earth.

Part 3 

Quatre Winner gazed up from the radar station with a look of surprised astonishment on his face.  "What's going on?" asked Trowa Barton, the first to notice the change in Quatre's expression.

"The… um… the radar detects a… ah… carrier coming our way, straight for us."

"So what?  Carriers come through here all the time, who cares?" said Duo, indifferent.

"It's carrying something made of…" Quatre paused and looked at his friends, "gundanium alloy."  

Trowa, Duo and Wufei looked up at the Arabian with the same alarmed look he had just given them.  Heero sat, unmoved by the news.  

"But we're all here…" stated Wufei, trying to put the pieces of two different puzzles together.  "Could there be another Gundam?"

"Apparently so, maybe it's just a shipment of gundanium," stated the hopeful Quatre.

"No, it's a new Gundam," confirmed the monotonous Heero, "Doctor J and the others left the extras plans for the Gundams on a far-away colony with one of their relatives.  They must have used the plans to make another."

"How do you know?" Duo practically yelled accusingly in Heero's direction.

"I just do."

Part 4 _Baby, set me free, from this misery_

_I can't take it no more_

_Since you went away, nothing's been the same_

_Don't know what I'm living for_

"Back Here" - BBMak

"One mile to the Earth's atmosphere," stated the carrier's computer.

"One mile," Anicka said aloud, despite the fact hat she was alone.  She set the computer to be ready for a descent sequence.  All she had to do now was find the Gundams.

Anicka had been intercepting transmissions from soldiers and civilians and had pieced together some news – battles were still happening, but in less and less amounts.  She also found that there were still people who ordered the deaths of the Gundam pilots, even though it was through them that the war ended.  The computer scanned the surface for high levels of gundanium alloy, in order to find the pilots.  There were high levels at New Port City in the Sank Kingdom.  Anicka discerned these readings with no feeling, still registering the shock that she had nowhere to go in the world.  There had to be a Gundam pilot in the same situation – no place to call home, no one to grieve for them when they die but people to meet in death – she couldn't be alone.  

"Landing sequence engaged," voiced the computer.  Anicka tapped several buttons to tell the computer where to go.

"We read you, carrier.  Are you seeking landing rights in the Sank Kingdom?" asked a voice from the computer's speaker.  So they know I'm here, they can see me now, she thought with a sigh, time to get back to civilization.

"I hear you, yes.  Who is this?" she answered to the friendly voice.

"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner.  Who are you?"

"I am Anicka Estralla.  Are you a Gundam pilot?"  As the transmitter switched the conversation to Earth, she could hear voices in the background saying "Don't tell her!" and "Why does she care?"  The sound then became muted, and Anicka returned with "Well?"

"This is Quatre, and yes.  I am," he emphasized the 'I' for some reason. 

"Do I have landing clearance or not, Pilot Quatre?" she asked formally.

He snickered and said, "Yes, you have clearance.  See you in the docking bay."

Anicka switched off the telecommunications link in order to enter the atmosphere.  As the pressure increased in the cabin and fire exploded outside the carrier, she thought of this Quatre and the people she heard arguing in the background.  The heat and pressure of landing made her ears pop and she was sweating while the carrier streaked through the sky to the Sank Kingdom.


	2. Book 2

Book Two Part 5 

"What were you thinking?" calmly asked Trowa.  He looked over to Quatre who turned off the link.

"Well, if she was looking for a Gundam pilot, and she ended up here, where, coincidentally, we all are, then why not?  And she has a Gundam on board, anyway, doesn't she?"

"You're right, but how do we know she's reliable?  How do we know she's not going to try to kill us or something?" Duo asked Quatre.

"Give it up, Duo.  You know that losing your temper won't solve anything," stated Wufei Chang, "We'll know when we meet her.  If she's dangerous, we eliminate her.  If she isn't…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Then she stays," Quatre said quickly in a flat tone, "She sounded nice."

"So now you know exactly what people are like without even meeting them?  Why you…" steamed Duo.  He got up from the chair he had flopped in and stalked off, mumbling.

Part 6 

"You must be Anicka Estralla," said Lucrezia Noin as she walked up to the cockpit door.

"Yes, and you are…" said Anicka to the strange woman.

"Lucrezia Noin.  The pilots are on their way."  And sure enough, she finished her sentence and the five boys came out of the hangar door, led by the platinum blonde-haired Quatre.

"So, you're Anicka," he said, looking her over.

"You ought to be Quatre," she answered, smiling, "Who are they?"

"That's Duo, Wufei, Trowa and Heero," he pointed at each, respectively, after saying their names.  Duo had a long brown braid, Wufei was Asian, Trowa's hair flopped stick-straight over his face, and Heero looked as if he had been through a washing machine.  She looks all right, nothing wrong with her that I can tell, Quatre anticipated.

There's something wrong with her, thought Wufei, something's not right…

"Where do I take my things?" she asked, noticing the receding daylight and the budding sunset.  She heaved a duffel bag out of the cockpit and over her shoulder.

"Here, I'll take that," said Quatre, graciously taking the bag and hoisting it on his own back.

What a gentleman! Anicka told herself.  She walked behind him, introducing herself to the other four pilots as they critiqued every move she made.  She knew, though, in her heart, that they each would accept her at some point.  Her mind went to other things – did they know she had lost her family?  Could they tell?  No, of course not.  I haven't been cold or unfeeling or unfriendly or acted out-of-the-ordinary, have I?

Part 7 

"She can't stay."

"Well, why not?" Quatre asked an angry Duo as they sat in the lounging room.

"She's too… nice.  There's something wrong with her."

"What's wrong with that?  I'm nice…"

"Exactly, and when you went over the edge you blew up an entire colony."

"Don't, Duo.  That was almost three years ago, and it wasn't my fault."

"Oh, really-"

"Stop it, you two," interjected Wufei, "you're right Duo, I could tell that there was something wrong with her, too, some kind of emotional turmoil… something she wants to hide-" he trailed off, then left the room.  Little did they know, she had heard the whole thing from the shadows of the doorway.  Anicka had been in the bathroom, then in the door when she heard them talking about her.  She would have to tell them what had happened when she knew she could trust them.

Part 8 

Anicka woke the next morning to all five Gundam pilots standing over her in their pajamas.  I could get used to this, she thought.  "Five more minutes," the groggy Anicka said as she rolled into a ball on her side.  She didn't even get her eyes closed before she heard whispers and chuckles.  Glancing up, she saw Duo creep close to her face, whispering, "Hey, sexy."

"Sexy needs some sleep," she countered, pulling the blanket over her head.

"Pilots have to be ready at the drop of a hat.  YOU won't be good at that, but since you're a woman, that must not be possible."  She peeked out, recognizing the voice of Wufei Chang from the day before, but seeing Trowa Barton when she looked up, his hair still in its perpetual gravity-defying wave.  

"Hey, how'd your hair…" she started, but was interrupted by the removal of her shelter – the other pilots had taken her blanket away.  Realizing with the chill of the room that she wasn't wearing much – only a ratty old T-shirt – she grabbed her pillow and threw it blindly in Quatre's direction.  He caught it in flight and whipped it back, hitting her square in the face.  "Don't cross me guys, I'm not a morning person."

"You will be," said the indifferent Heero, angrily stalking off.

She grabbed the corners of her pillow, leapt on to her bed, and said in a deep morning voice, "Who's next?"

Quatre held his hands in front of him and told them, "all right, all right, we're done here guys.  Anicka, be ready to leave in half an hour."

"Where are we going?"

"You have something to show us, right?"  Quatre smiled at Anicka as she plopped back to her bed cross-legged, grinning, and he was the last to leave the room.

Part 9 

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash, then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

"Crash and Burn" - Savage Garden

"This…" Anicka said as she yanked away the storage tarp, "is Swordsong."

"What kind of weapons does she have?" Wufei asked, seeming interested, for once, in what she had to say.

"Visible?  A light saber and a beam cannon, attached for storage on the back.  Concealed?  The right hand has a glove that, when pulled away, reveals a mace.  The left has a cannon in each finger."  Anicka walked briskly around the mobile suit, pointing out other features – a storage compartment in the left leg and a huge first aid kit in the right – and built with a re-enforced hull, for less damage in battle.  The only thing wrong was that there was no more battle.

"She's quite a machine, isn't she?" Anicka asked the boys after a long period of silence.

"Yeah, except there's no use for it," said Trowa.

"Hey, why'd you bring it anyway?" Duo demanded with his usual attitude.

"My father… well… he knew it would be hard to stop the battles… and thought you needed help… and… he built it… and then…" she lingered on the last word, unsure if she should tell everyone about her family.

"Well?"  Anicka wasn't sure who said this, her eyes were full of tears.  Sobbing uncontrollably into her hands, she felt someone leading her into a different room.  She followed, not even sure of whom she was following.  She shuffled her feet, her head on the mystery man's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" asked the pilot, handing her a tissue.  They had made their way into a different room.  She wiped her eyes, and saw the trustworthy Quatre sitting next to her on a couch.

"I… can't tell you…" she hesitated.

"Yes, you can, take your time," he said in a quiet voice.

"I was leaving… and…"

"And?"

"And I saw… my… my colony…"

"What?  What happened?"

"It…" she couldn't finish.  She leaned on him, whimpering softly.  He patted her on the back lightly, saying a couple quiet 'shh's.  

"It's okay, it's okay.  You can tell me anything, don't be afraid."

"It exploded," she spat out, still crying.  "I watched my colony go up in flames, my father and brother with it."

"Oh my god, Anicka…" he didn't know how to finish.  She leaned to his chest, still crying, and he hugged her and stroked her hair, finally understanding her inner turmoil.  As her crying subsided, Quatre, in all his dear-heartedness, gently lifted the sleeping girl and carried her limp form to her room.

Part 10 

_Maybe I don't have the blonde hair you like_

_Or maybe I don't have eyes like the sky_

_And I'm not sure if I'm the girl in your dreams_

_But I can show you what love means._

"Girl in Your Dreams" - M2M

Quatre walked back out to where the Gundam Swordsong had been stored, still being examined by the other pilots.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Duo, seeming concerned.

"Her father and brother died in that colony explosion last week.  She just had a breakdown," Quatre answered.

"Just like a woman…" Wufei sneered, "She won't be reliable in any battle."

"Don't say that about her!" Quatre shot back, stepping out of character for once.  "She'll be fine, she's just shocked."

"I hope so, we might need her if a battle breaks out," Heero stated.

"This is a great looking Gundam, just look at her," Trowa said in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah, great for her to pilot, especially since she isn't using any of ours," Wufei said.

"Oh, just shut up, Wufei.  You don't even know her," Quatre stated, stepping out of character once more.

"And you think you do?" Duo questioned.

"Yes, I've talked to her more than all of you combined and I just do, okay?" He had no more arguments so he ended the sentence abruptly.  Why was he defending the girl he had just met?  He had no idea - a question of honor, perhaps... "Anyway, she's sleeping now.  She's not here to defend herself so don't just start cutting her down!"  He glared at the other pilots and stalked out of the room.

Quatre crept spy-like into Anicka's room.  He sat next to her and brushed her unruly, curly auburn hair away from her face and kissed her on the forehead.  Looking over her sleeping form, he smiled.  She trusted him with her secret,  which was sure.  Content in sitting in that chair, he watched her sleep, her sides moving up and down in the rhythmic motion of breathing.  She shuddered and sat up, turning to him.  "What- what are you…"

He gently grasped her shoulders and pushed her back into her sleeping position, saying "It's OK.  You're tired.  I get it, now sleep, Anicka."

"How long have you been in here?" she asked sitting back up.

"About five minutes, I had to make sure you were okay," he answered, pushing her back down.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked while sitting up yet again.

"Yes," he said quickly, and shoved her back down with all of his strength and held her, "and I can keep doing this all day."  He slowly released her.

"I'm fine," she stated, smiling, yawning and stretching like a cat.

"No, you're not, you had a breakdown," he angrily said to her.  He looked at her suspiciously, trying to see if she was all right enough to see the others.  "Do you think you're okay?"

"I just needed to cry," she smiled again and curled up, facing him, "Thank you, Quatre, for getting me out of there.  What do they think of me now that I've flipped out in front of them?"

"I'm not sure, but they were pretty cold about it, calling you a 'typical woman' and saying stuff about you that I won't repeat.  And you're welcome."

"Were they really mean about it?"

"Some were.  Duo and Trowa acted kind of concerned, Wufei doesn't want you to fight and Heero, as usual, didn't really care."

"Wow, I would never have pegged Duo and Trowa to be the ones to care.  You appear to care more than they do, am I right?"

 "Well, yeah…" he hesitated, "I care."

"Do you think it's okay that I go out there now?  Will they be all right with it?"

"I think so."  She sat up on the bed in front of him, cross-legged, and smiled.  He smiled back as she whispered a quiet "Thank you" and kissed him gently on the cheek.  He watched her every move as she got up and walked toward the door, waiting for him in the entrance to the room.  He got up slowly and followed her out.****

Anicka and Quatre walked out to Swordsong together, their steps matching perfectly, their hands touching occasionally.  Before they walked into the storage room with the other Gundams, to where Swordsong had been moved, they stopped in front of the door, staring into each other's eyes, holding hands.  Anicka made the first move, looking down, saying "Should they… umm… find out…"

Quatre lifting her chin and placing his finger to her mouth stopped her sentence short.  He grinned smugly and kissed her roughly on the lips.  Neither pulled away, waiting for the other to do so first.  They fell out of the kiss, gasping for air.  Quatre said "No" quietly, staring down at the floor.  "They won't accept it.  I guess I'm suppose to be the reasonable one." 

"And this isn't reasonable?"  She moved in to kiss him, but he turned away, and she kissed his cheek.

"No, not really," his voice changed to a whisper, "but they don't need to know."  He turned to return her kiss and she accepted it.

"Okay.  You go in first, it'll look less suspicious."

"Sneaky," he said as he walked through the door to meet the other pilots.

**Part 11**

_There is a fairy tale for you_

_Hoping for dreams that will come true_

_Life doesn't give the best, so find the rest_

_In you, if your love is true_

"Fairy Tale" - Neja

"Wow, where have you guys been?" asked Duo.  He was in the hangar with Wufei and Heero.  Trowa was gone.

"Out," Anicka abruptly voiced.

"Yeah," Quatre added.

"And where would that be, Anicka and Quatre?" demanded Duo, emphasizing the names.

"I fell asleep and Quatre came to wake me up, okay, now back off!" defended Anicka, stepping back protectively.  Quatre was standing close enough to her to elbow her gently in the side without the others noticing and she stepped back.  The pilots gave the two a few peculiar glances, trying to figure out what was going on.  And then Anicka spoke to break the silence.

"You can call me Ani.  It's what my father always called me," a tear rolled down her cheek at the mention of him.  "My grandmother was Annie, and my mom and dad wanted a unique name for me, and they came up with Anicka.  There's no trace of my family left, they all died last week," her tears flowed as fast as the words could leave her mouth, "except for my mother.  Her final victory in life was me."  She looked at the pilots through her watery eyes, seeing remorse and even tears on the faces of Duo and Quatre.  Wufei seemed sad, and Heero was looking at the floor, hiding his feelings.  "I'm sorry, I just broke down.  I couldn't stand holding my feelings in anymore, and if any of you think it'll make me a bad pilot, than I'll gladly take them outside and show you how feelings can help a pilot."

Wufei stepped forward a little, happy to oblige, but Duo walked in front of him.  "No," he directed at Wufei, and to Anicka he said, "There's no war, but I'm sure that there will be some rivalry battles or just some crazies who want us dead.  And you know that they'll want you gone, too, as soon as Swordsong leaves this hangar with another Gundam.  You'll need some training, but we would have to find an isolated place to train you, or just send you straight into battle.  It's up to you."

"I've been trained," she said, remembering the Aries she had at home.  "We outfitted an Aries with my Gundam's program and its beam cannon to train with.  I fought against some stolen mobile dolls, enhanced with the same program Swordsong has.  I beat every single one of them easy."

"You sound like you can take it – being a pilot.  But can you really do it?" asked Duo.

"With one, no, both hands tied behind my back."

"That wouldn't be smart," Heero said, in an attempt to join the conversation.

"No, but I could.  The arms wouldn't move, but I would work the thing with my feet if I had to."  She saw Trowa walk into the Gundams' lair. 

"Well, now's your chance.  A battle just broke out not far from here.  I don't suggest using your feet," Trowa grinned smugly at her, and she beamed, looking from pilot to pilot, standing motionless with and idiot grin on her face.  Her eyes rested on Quatre.

"Ani, get your Gundam," he said simply, and she jumped into action.

**Part 12**

Anicka flew out of the hangar slowly, unsure of her Gundam.  In the sky, she read the coordinates of where she had to go – Northern Arabia.  Her sensors interpreted the signs of a Gundam behind her.  She addressed the Gundam, saying, "Hey, who's back there?"

"It's me, Quatre."

"Why are you coming with me?"

"They're looking for me down there, my family's estate is being ransacked yet again to find me.  I have to go."

"And you wanted to follow me, huh?"

"Of course."

"Well, it looks like we just have some Leos, Aries and Virgos to deal with, not much.  I can handle it."

"I have to take on at least one, though, to make my people proud."

"Why, are you like the prince or something?"

"Yes, there's a lot you don't know about me and the others."

"It's not the others that I care about, follow me."  She punched in a couple buttons on her control panel and Quatre watched as the Gundam streamlined itself.  The engines in the back and on the feet activated and Swordsong snatched through the sky.

**Part 13**

_Don't be afraid at all_

_'Cause up in outer space there's no gravity_

_Put your mind and body to the test_

_'Cause up in outer space it's like the wild wild west_

"Space Cowboy" - *NSync

Swordsong and Quatre's Gundam, Sandrock, reached the spot where the fight had broken out.  Renegade OZ troops and bounty hunters had bought or stolen almost twenty mobile suits – Aries, Leo and Virgo models – and were fighting the Arab forces in a search for the Gundam pilots.  A huge explosion caused turbulence and the Gundams landed in a cloud of smoke.  Anicka moved the massive arm of Swordsong and grasped her light saber, preparing to walk out of the dust and sand kicked up by the explosion.  Quatre's voice came across on the intercom, saying, "As soon as they see you, they'll concentrate on killing you, too.  Be careful."  

She watched as if in slow motion, Sandrock stepped out of the sand cloud with its scimitars poised and ready to fight.  Swordsong stepped right next to Sandrock.  "We've got to cover each other or they'll kill us," she said.

"I thought you were trained?"

"Yeah, in an Aries!  I've never actually piloted Swordsong!"

"Shit.  Don't worry though, you'll be fine.  I'll make sure."

Anicka watched as the intercom screen switched off and wasn't watching when a Leo walked up to Swordsong and shot at her with a hand cannon.  She raised the shields and sliced the Leo in half.  "Yeah!" she yelled, ripping out her beam cannon to accompany the saber.  She blew away three Leos at once with the cannon.

After eliminating the Leos, she sensed rather than saw the Virgo creeping up behind her.  "I don't think so!" she extended Swordsong's saber arm straight up and brought its thick elbow crashing down on the Virgo's head, knocking it off-balance.  She raised the beam cannon, turned Swordsong around and blasted at the Virgo.  Flipping back around, she saw Sandrock slice two Aries in halves.  "Go, Sandrock!" she shouted over the intercom.

"You're not that bad yourself, there, Swordsong," he answered.  They moved their Gundams back-to-back and fought off most of the opposing force, save a Leo, Virgo and Aries.  The leader of the three, the Virgo, started talking over the intercom.

"So we meet again, Quatre," the Virgo coldly voiced.

"How many innocent soldiers will die before I do?" Quatre asked.

"Who is this guy, Quatre?" Anicka interjected, confused as to who this man is and what he had to do with Quatre.

"This guy has been after me since I became a Gundam pilot, and he periodically comes back to find me, usually here in Arabia."

"What's his name?" she asked, and as she did, the Leo, Virgo and Aries all ignited their engines and rushed the Gundams.  Swordsong shot her beam cannon at the Aries, and it exploded too close for comfort, knocking her off balance, while simultaneously a Leo, while fighting Sandrock, knocked her down from the back.

"Nooo!" Quatre yelled, "How dare you!"  He threw his curved sword at the Leo, and snatched Swordsong's beam cannon to finish up the job, erupting the Leo sky high.  He looked up at the wreckage and the Virgo was gone.

Quatre opened Sandrock's hatch and ran to Anicka.  He ripped open Swordsong's cockpit door to find Anicka lying unconscious, still holding the controls.  She had a huge black and blue bruise on her head.  Quatre could see that she had also broken her right leg, it was bent backwards.  He gently lifted her battered body from the fallen Swordsong.  He carried the girl to Sandrock and used the intercom to call the nearest building – his family's mansion.

"Master Quatre!  Good to hear you again!"

"Hello Rashid.  I need the emergency transport out here fast, my…" he paused, his brain trying to catch up with his tongue and realize what he was about to say, "friend was injured.  She's unconscious.  Oh, and I need a conveyor for the Gundams."

"We'll be there right away in the Sand Trekker."

"Thank you, Rashid."  He switched off the link.  "Don't worry, Anicka.  Help is on the way."  He looked down at her face, brushed her matted hair from it and kissed her forehead.  He checked her again, surveying her injuries.  He set her badly-broken lower right leg with a piece of her own flight suit and bandaged several cuts with a piece of his shirt.  Once again, Quatre picked up her lifeless body and set out carrying her toward the mansion.


	3. Book 3

**Book Three**

**Part 14**

_I guess she's always been prepared for the worst_

_Nine times out of ten times they'd leave her stranded in the dirt_

_But she's got a higher threshold of pain_

_All the boys say that girls can't fight, but fight's her middle name_

"Jodi's Winning" – Johnny Clueless

"Master Quatre," a voice woke him up that night.  It was the nurse taking care of Anicka.

He shot straight up and felt the blood rush from his head.  "How is she?"  he asked hurriedly.

"She's not good.  She's somewhere in between asleep and awake, rolling around and repeating your name like a lunatic," the older lady said.  "You should put a shirt on," she said in vain.  He was already out the door and running down the corridor.

"Anicka!"  Quatre rushed through the door, out of breath, and sat beside her.  He could tell that she couldn't be capable of rational thought, at least not easily, because her head was swollen around the bandage and her eyes were bloodshot.  He started to cry at the sight of her.  She was rolling in her bed, as if the two halves of her brain were fighting, and then she saw him.  She ceased all movement, save the jerky action of her eyes, her mind recognizing him and saving the memory of his shirtless body.  She smiled, "You…"

He smirked.  "Yes, me.  You got pretty beaten up out there, don't move too much."

"I held my own, though, didn't I?"

"The others will hear nothing but good things."

"That's great.  What's the damage?"

"You have a nasty bump on the head, a broken leg and a broken wrist.  And Swordsong is fine."

"Broken wrist?"  She looked at her casted appendage, baffled.  "You've got some pretty good pain killers here, I can't even feel it.  What time is it?"

"Two-thirty AM.  I think you need to sleep, Anicka.  You fought hard out there.  Only one of them got away alive."

"Who was it?  I bet it was that Virgo.  Who was that guy, anyway?"

"Yeah, it was the Virgo.  Catalonia.  He worked behind-the-scenes with Oz and masterminded the mobile doll operation.  No one knew him but those who worked on the inside.  Now he spends his time trying to dissolve all hopes of peace and kill the pilots – mainly me.  As soon as they saw you, they switched to a lower radio frequency, which I listened in on, and concentrated most of their fire power on you."

"Really…" she trailed off, yawned, closed her eyes and fell asleep, broken leg extended. Quatre smiled at her, and, seeing that she couldn't be left alone, he slowly climbed into the bed next to her, curving around her lithe, injured body.

**Part 15**

_Arabian nights, like Arabian days_

_More often than not_

_Are hotter than hot_

_In a lot of good ways_

"Arabian Nights" - Disney movie "Aladdin"

Quatre woke up the next morning unable to move.  Anicka had rolled on top of him in her sleep.  Her broken right wrist and leg were hanging off the bed, and her head was on his shoulder. Her left arm was curled under her, giving both her and Quatre room to breathe.  Quatre smiled broadly.  He had never been in a situation like this before, so he did the first thing that came to mind.  He kissed her on her unmarred cheek.  Her eyes fluttered, and he whispered, "Good morning."  She woke up and turned her head and, seeing who it was, she kissed him on the mouth, smiled and closed her eyes.   "Anicka," he said just above a whisper, "I can't move."

"Good," she answered, not moving a muscle.

"Could you…"

"No."  At that, Quatre wriggled his arm to her side and tickled her.  She twisted from side to side and he shifted out from under her, laughing.  "What was that for?" she asked, giggling.

"I couldn't move," he answered, grinning like a madman.

"Oh, okay, that's all right then."  She turned on her side to face him.

"Are you good laying on your leg like that?"  He looked at her on his side, reaching over and twirling her hair.

"I'm fine…" They laid in silence for minutes, passing time by staring, kissing and smiling.  Finally, Quatre broke the silence.

"How will we tell the others?"

"Do we have to?"

"It'll be very obvious if we can't keep our eyes off each other."

"So.  Let them figure it out or confront us."

"Anicka, they'll be mad we didn't come clean in the first place.  Should I tell them?"

"You know 'em better.  I'd be content if you just carried my busted body through the door and let them figure it out."

"I would, too," he said, continually playing with her curly auburn hair, "but I can't.  They trust me too much."

"I trust you.  You can tell them, but I want to be there."

"To see what they do?"

"You know me so well."  There came a point in the following period of silence when Anicka shook Quatre's hands from her hair and stood, favoring her leg and wincing through the pain.  "It's a miracle!  I can stand," she said through clenched teeth.

"Sit down, you'll hurt yourself," he whined.  He tried to sound concerned but, secretly, he wanted her to stay standing so he could look at her graceful, sinewy body in its tight, ivory nightgown.

"I'll be fine."

"Yeah, whatever," he stood up and literally swept her off her feet, holding her like an overgrown baby, her arms hanging around his neck.

"Thanks, the pain was kicking in there," she looked up at him, grinning.

"So, where were you going?"

"Actually, I was going to find some clothes…"

"Oh," he said, his cheeks getting red, "Well, I'm sure I can find something for you in my room."

"Where's that?"

"A couple doors down."

"Are you going to carry me?"

"Of course."  He shifted his grasp on her and started out the door.

**Part 16**

"Thanks for the shirt, Quatre," Anicka said.  She and Quatre had changed into almost identical clothes – he threw on an old blue shirt and she borrowed a green one and a pair of jeans.

"No problem," he answered.  They were sitting next to each other on Quatre's bed.  Anicka had to undo her bandages to dress, and Quatre was re-wrapping them, slowly and carefully.  "You look a lot better today."

"You think?"

"Yes.  I mean, um…"

"I get it.  You know, you're cute when you're speechless."

He blushed and grinned.  "Really?"

"Yes."  She laughed.

"All right, I'm done, you're all wrapped up now."

"Thanks.  Do you have any crutches?"

"Yes, I'll call for them."  He pressed a button and said, "We need a set of crutches in my room, Nurse.  Oh, and could you bring up some breakfast?"

"On my way," a voice uttered through the speaker.  Minutes later, a nurse walked through the door holding a pair of metal, adjustable crutches in one hand and a tray of food in the other.  The nurse smiled at the girl, glad that Quatre had found someone.  Anicka took them, fitted them to her height and started cruising around the room.  She held them too far away from her frame and fell over, landing on Quatre's lap and laughing hysterically with him.  

"Oopsy daisy," she stated through her giggles.

"Looks like you need some practice on those things," he voiced through his laughing turned tears.  Anicka wiped the saltwater from his face with the sleeve of her borrowed shirt, laughing all the while, and wiped her own face after.  They sat there, Anicka on the floor, leaning on Quatre's legs, for moments, laughing, and Anicka finally spoke.

"When are we going back?"

"Soon, maybe when your leg is a bit better.  It will be easier for you to get around the hangar if you can walk for yourself."

"When will that be?"

"I should probably call and find out what is going on over there, maybe we can go back in a few days.  Are you hungry?  Looks like eggs and bacon."

"Good, I'm famished."  She grabbed a plate from the tray, loaded it up with more than half of the food, and shoveled it into her mouth with an unusual efficiency.

"You know what, I'll call them now," Quatre said, puzzled as to why she was eating so fast.  He touched a couple buttons on the console in his room and uttered the phrase "Quatre Raberba Winner, Gundam Sandrock here."

"Quatre!  Where have you been?" a cordial voice replied from the loudspeaker.

"Hey, Duo.  I'm at home.  Anicka is kind of bashed up, but otherwise we're fine.  When do you want us back there?"

"Soon.  There's a bunch of rivalry battles cropping up out here, we could use both your help."

"Anicka can't, like I said, she's got a broken leg and a broken wrist."

"Yes I can," she sassed, "I can do anything I want!  Even Gundam pilots can't stop me."

"Yes, we can."  She heard a quiet voice say from the other end of the link.

"Heero…" Quatre angrily voiced, "She's fine.  We'll be back by the end of the week, tomorrow at the earliest."

"Okay, see you soon," Duo noted.

"Thank you for standing up for me, but I can do it myself," Anicka said to him angrily.

"Sorry," he said, trying to sound apologetic.

"You know…" Anicka thoughtfully voiced, still leaning on his knee, "I think we should go back today."

"But what about your leg?"

"What about my leg?  I can take it.  It sounds pretty bad over there.  We need to go back."

"Don't you like it here?"

"Of course I do, you live here don't you?  We have to go back.  I can tell you're worried about them.  I see that they're a second family to you, your brothers or something.  Doesn't it make sense that we go back?"

"Yes."  Quatre wasn't going to argue with her.  She was right, the other pilots were practically his brothers since he had twenty-nine sisters and no other boys in his family.  And he knew that Anicka would argue with him until she got her way anyway.  It would be a waste of time to argue.

"Good.  I'll pack."  She gestured around the room, folding invisible clothes and putting them into an invisible bag.  "I'm done, let's go."

"What about the Gundams?"

"We pilot them back, duh."

"Can you do that?"

"I could pilot the thing with my feet, remember?  A hand and a foot wouldn't be that hard, now, would it?  And the thing's got an auto-pilot, it'll do the driving for me."

"Okay."  He was doubtful that she could make it without meeting up with anyone who wanted to kill a pilot, but there was no stopping her.  She was… how did they put it… like an angel on a dare, he remembered from an old song he had heard.  And she was.

**Part 17**

Anicka made her way to Swordsong with as little trouble as she could muster.  She got in and, to the dismay of Quatre, flew the monstrosity towards the safe house in the Sank Kingdom.  He followed closely behind, watching for any signs of other mobile suits pursuing them.  

They entered an empty hangar late that night.  The other pilots had left.  Anicka and Quatre entered the building hesitantly, examining the domicile for any signs of other human presence.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Anicka asked him, searching the main room.

Quatre smiled to himself, listening to the fast click clicking of her metal crutches hitting the floor in their usual expression.  "I think they left, probably a battle.  Oh, well, more time to ourselves."

"Yeah," she said absently, looking for any signs of where they may have gone, and crutching around the main room and hallway.

"What…" Quatre started, trying to deduce the reasoning behind checking all the rooms.  Then it came to him, as she slowly came out of the passage.  He ran to her and kissed her passionately on the lips.  She accepted the kiss, and, as her crutches fell to the floor, Quatre had already lifted her off her feet and started walking toward Anicka's room.  She could feel it as his kisses moved from her lips to her neck and chest.  Quatre did his best to walk and kiss at the same time.  She felt her bed on the backs of her legs and bent back at the knees, lying down and feeling Quatre move over her and he continued kissing her, unbuttoning her shirt as he did.  She reached up to him and followed suit, and, frustrated by the buttons, she ripped his shirt off.  Anicka moaned as the pecks from his tender lips migrated to her breasts and stomach.  She mussed up his hair and said "Should we really be doing this?"

He looked up at her saying quickly, "Yes."

Duo, Heero, Trowa and Wufei flew their Gundams into the hangar at the crack of dawn, noting the presence of the Gundams Sandrock and Swordsong.

"Hey, they're back!"  Trowa exclaimed.

"Yeah, didn't they say they wouldn't be home for a couple of days?" Duo asked.

"Yes.  But they must really want to get back," Wufei stated.

The four walked through the hall between the hangar and the main room.  Duo saw their bags sitting next to each other, neatly placed by the couch.  Typical Quatre, he thought.  Where could they be?  Heero also noticed the bags, but he was looking at the pair of crutches in the bedroom hall entrance.  They weren't cleverly leaned against the wall or stacked against a bookshelf, but lying there as if they had just fallen.  What the…  

"Hey, where are you guys?" Trowa yelled down the hall.  

No answer.

"Yeah.  You guys have got to be here…" Duo shouted.

No answer.  The four pilots started to walk down the hallway, each of them looking into their own room.  Quatre's room and Anicka's room were across from each other at the end of the hall, so they were checked last.  

"No one is in Quatre's room," Trowa said.

"Shhh!" Duo whispered loudly.  "Check this out."  The quad gathered around the door of Anicka's room, looking in at the couple, curled together in a tight ball, fast asleep.  They could tell it was Anicka and Quatre from the mass of curly auburn hair and short platinum blonde.

"What the f…" Anicka said.  She poked the Arabian and pointed at the door.  His eyes widened and they were both speechless.  They both reached out at the blanket and pulled it from their chests to over their heads.  Meanwhile, Duo was holding back tears, Wufei was chuckling, and even Heero was trying not to laugh at his fellow pilots.  Trowa just stood, speechless, with a flabbergasted look on his face.  Anicka and Quatre, now fully under the sheets, were both terrified and hysterical.  The group by the door had finished laughing and had realized the awkward position they had put their friend and latest ally.

"Sorry," Trowa uttered, walking away quickly.

"Go away," Anicka yelled to the remaining triad.

"Not until you tell us what's going on," Heero shouted back.

"Figure it out," Quatre bellowed.  They could hear Duo start to snicker again and said simultaneously, "Shut up, Duo," but all that did was make him laugh harder.

"Go away," Anicka repeated.  She lowered the blanket to see the looks on the faces of the three.  She saw astonishment in Wufei, agitation on Heero and laughter in Duo.  

"Hey," Duo quickly voiced through his tittering, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Wufei noted, "They're carrying out an elaborate plot by lying to us.  Who knows what they've been planning.  Maybe Anicka is working for an enemy and has been deceitful the whole time."

"Yeah, and maybe she just wants to get us all to bed," Duo joked.

"Not funny, guys.  Now go," Quatre told them.

"Well, maybe she poisoned your mind, too," Heero's melancholy tone voiced at the couple.  Duo was, at this point, crying from his laughter.  Anicka and Quatre sat up together, glaring daggers at the trio.  Heero and Wufei stalked off.

"Fine, we get the picture," Duo said as he walked away, joining the others in the main room and laughing the whole time.

**Part 18**

"Well, I guess we don't have to tell them anything now," Anicka said in the short period following the departure of the others.  She laughed.

"I think they're mad.  Did you see the way Trowa looked at us?  Sure, everyone looked pissed, but he really did.  How are they ever going to trust us again?"

"They'll come around.  We should apologize, though."

"Yes.  And maybe we should get dressed, too."

"That may help."

"Sorry, guys."  Anicka limped out of the hallway, now in her own clothes, and attempted to ask forgiveness from the others.

"Can you ever forgive us?" Quatre asked, walking out from behind Anicka and holding her waist for support.

"I never thought you could be so stupid," Wufei quickly voiced.  He stood up from his seat on the couch and walked forward.  He pointed at Anicka.  "Maybe you, but not him," his finger shifted to Quatre.

"Well, I guess I can, Wufei.  And I'm sorry if I have made any of you lose your trust in Quatre, but I… I…"

"You fell in love.  I know.  I've said it before," Wufei sadly noted.  "But I never will again," he quickly came back with.  

Anicka noticed his eyes welling up with tears.  "What's wrong?" she asked the Asian.  He ignored her and sauntered off towards the Gundam hangar.

"We're sorry.  We were going to tell you today," Quatre said, "I would hate to lose your trust and if that sounds cheesy, than, hey, who cares."

"What's the hell is up with you, Quatre?"  Duo asked.  "You've been really different lately."

"I've changed, Duo."

"Thanks to me," Anicka added.

"Yes," the Arabian hugged the girl around the waist and kissed her.

"Is everything okay now?  Is the air clear?  Can you trust him again?" Anicka asked after the kiss.  She looked hopefully around the room at the other pilots.  Slowly, Trowa said yes, followed by Heero and Duo.

"Thank you for giving me a chance, guys.  Now, would it be okay if I talked to Quatre alone?  I have something to tell him that I'm not ready to tell the rest of you."

"Sure," Trowa said, "but be sure to tell us sometime."

"I will."

**Part 19**

Anicka limped her way to her room, Quatre holding tightly around her shoulders, supporting her.  She sat on the unmade bed, a single tear falling down her cheek.  "Sit down," she said coldly.  He sat next to her, confused as to her newfound depression and tears.

"What's wrong?" the teen reached over to her face and wiped her tear away with his sleeve.

"Quatre, I have something else I have to tell you before… this…" she gestured at herself and him, "goes any further.  Back home, on the colony that exploded, I fell in love.  His name was Gavin.  He was one of those tall, dark and handsome types, you know?  I met him at school where I was the only girl.  He had been in my classes since we were in sixth grade.  We were friends before we fell in love, he knew me and I knew him inside and out.  We even shared a dorm room for a while, before the war.  Then my father wanted me to come home to help build Swordsong.  Gavin missed me a lot, and once when he was over, we, well…" she started to cry a little bit more, so Quatre offered his shoulder, which she rejected.  She looked down and patted her stomach.

"What are you trying to tell me, Anicka?"

"Quatre, I shouldn't even be battling with you and the others now.  I was glad when I heard that my leg was broken.  It would be better than losing…" she stopped to wipe her eyes.  She looked up at him with a tear-stained face and said, "his baby."

"What… umm… huh…" Quatre was baffled.  

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I really wanted to, I did, but I couldn't.  Either you weren't there or someone else was or my mind was elsewhere… and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Gavin or the all-boys school or the baby or anything… I just… I…" she gazed upward at his now teary face and cried into his shirt.

"Anicka, did anything else happen back… home?  You should tell me now, I'm listening."

"I want to have the baby, Quatre.  If you and the others, once I tell them, want to help, then good, I have no other family.  Help me, Quatre, please?" Her desperation was eminent now, and she leaned on his shoulder, crying heavily.

"Anicka, I'm sorry.  I should have thought about every option before I started to think about you the way I do now.  I'll help you, don't worry.  And the others will, too.  Just stop crying, it'll all be okay now."  He did all he could do to console the hysterical girl, but it was he who needed to be consoled.  He was crying into her hair.

"What is taking them so long?" Trowa asked the clueless group.  He paced around the room in an unusual circle, to the window, door and past the two hallways.  

"She'll tell us, remember?  And we could force it out of Quatre if we had to, right?" Duo noted.

"Yes, but don't you think they've kept enough from us?" Trowa returned, "Are you guys done yet?" he yelled.

"Quiet, Trowa," the voice of Quatre came back.

"Just leave them.  We are supposed to trust him, Trowa," Heero's unfeeling voice said. 

"She probably has to talk about what they were doing earlier," Wufei coldly voiced.  At that, Duo started to chuckle.

"Duo…" Trowa fumed.  He finally stopped his pacing and took a seat in a lounge chair near the hallway.  "Do you think they beat the forces attacking his house?"

"It was probably Catalonia again.  We've beaten him before," Wufei said.

"We did," a feminine voice said from the hall.  Anicka walked, of her own free will, from the hallway.  Her face was red and covered in tears.  Quatre shuffled his feet behind her, his head down.  "Only one got away.  Catalonia."

A shadow of confusion passed over Heero's face.  "Where have I heard that name before?" he asked.

"You remember Dorothy from Relena's school?"

Relena… "Yes."

"Her uncle has wanted me dead since I blew up that colony a while ago… when I went crazy.  It cost him millions of dollars, his factory went with it."

"Ah," Heero noted.

"What's wrong?" Duo asked, seeing that Anicka had started crying again.

"I'll tell you later," the girl stated, wiping her eyes.  She smiled at the braided boy, and he smirked back.

"I think the deceptions should stop here."  She shifted her gaze to the speaker, surprised to see Trowa frowning at her.  "Tell us."

She looked at him with a face splashed in hurt, disgust and anger.  "No," she flatly stated, continuing to cry.

"Tell us," he persisted, more firmly this time, taking a step forward.

"No," she repeated.  She stared blankly at him for a second, her gaze shifting to Quatre.  Shouldn't he be backing her up?  Anicka turned tail and ran back to her room.  Quatre shot a furious glance at Trowa and started after her, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.  He turned to see Heero standing behind him.

"Let her go," his usual monotone voiced, "She'll be fine." 

"No, Heero," his tone was insistent, "You don't understand."  He understood, though.  She needed a moment alone.

**Part 20**

After long moments of silence, Duo looked over at Quatre to see the Arabian staring blankly at the floor and shivering.  Duo, in his usual way, said jovially, "You cold, Quatre?  Need a blanket?"

The blonde looked up quickly and shook his head.  He then promptly shifted his gaze back downward.  Duo looked around to see if anyone else noticed Quatre's unusual mood.  He was never like this.  Quatre was the proper one, the outgoing one.  He himself was the messed up one.  Had the tables turned?  Or was it just him?  It seemed that Trowa had noticed, he was staring at Quatre.  Why was his friend acting like this?  What had that girl told him?  Wufei was thinking the same.  That girl had devastated him… somehow.  Heero didn't seem to care at all, but he did.  Quatre was the Gundam's back-up leader.  If something happened…

"What did she say, Quatre?"  Heero, for once, sounded concerned.

He looked up, tears running down his red face.  "She'll tell you when she feels she can.  She can't right now."  He glanced at the hallway where Anicka had retreated.  Why didn't she tell him earlier?  The blurred sight of that hallway through his tears would be imprinted on his mind forever.

"I'll go get her," Duo finally said.  He had an abrasive attitude, but inside, Duo was a sweetheart.  He stood up.  "Wanna come with, Quatre?"

"Just leave her, Duo," the crying Arab voiced through his tears.  "She needs time alone."

"Quatre -"

"Duo!" he yelled, "I'll go."  The angry blonde stalked down the hallway.  Reaching a closed door, he knocked gently.  "Can I come in?"

"Yes," a barely audible voice answered.  He slowly turned the cold doorknob and pushed open the door.  "Hi."

"Are you okay?  Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine.  Are you?"

"Just a little shocked.  And the others really want to know."

"I figured they would.  They'll need to know, too, I will need help from everyone."

"You should tell them, soon, today even."

"I'll tell them now.  I can go by myself-"

"No, I'll go with you," he insisted, but the woman had already started limping out.  "You need help."

"No I don't!" she shouted loud enough to be heard in the living room.  "I can do it!"

"What's going on?" someone yelled.

"Nothing," Anicka yelled back.  She made her painful way to the room.  Duo gladly got up from his chair and offered it to her, taking a seat on the couch next to Heero.  She sat slowly in the chair, lowering herself with her arms.  There she sat in silence, watching Quatre take a seat on the couch, next to Duo and closest to her.  His eyes fixed on the floor, Anicka frowned.  She looked around the room, her eyes meeting with four expectant gazes.  "What?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Don't you have something to tell us?" Duo asked, peeking out from behind the stooping Quatre at her.

"Ye…yes," she answered hesitantly.  "I need your help, all of you.  Some of you can help more than others, but I know you all can offer your support." She looked around.  She had their attention. "Quatre is not the first man I have fallen in love with.  There was another.  His name was Gavin.  He and I were very close, we even shared a dorm before the war.  He died in the colony explosion."  In this, her fourth time speaking of the catastrophe, she did not cry.  She had shed enough tears for them.  "I am going to have his baby."  Gasps were heard throughout the room.  "That's why I need your help.  Six months from now, there's going to be a little one here."

"Wha…wha…what?!" Trowa said in exasperation.

"I'm three months pregnant with a dead man's baby and I have no family to go to for help.  Got it?" she sassed.  He jerked his head back slightly and opened his eyes wide.

"Yes," he answered quickly.

"Sorry.  That slipped."

"It's okay, I get it."

"So, wait.  You expect us to help you with this even though we met you only a week ago?" Duo asked.

"Think of it this way.  You guys will have something to do when these battles die down and disappear, you know, a new experience."

"I'll help," Heero volunteered.  If he could pilot a Gundam, he could be one baby-sitter in six, right?

"Yeah, me, too," Duo answered as well.  Everyone fell in, glad to take on the task.

"Thanks, guys.  I really owe you one.  First you take me in, let me battle, put up with me getting busted up and now this!  I love you guys!"  She slowly got up and kissed each of them on the cheek, save Quatre whom she kissed on the lips.  She cautiously sat back down and looked at all the surprised faces.  She smiled.

"Um, anyone hungry?  I could probably whip up a snack or lunch or something to eat…" her voice trailed off as she stood up and limped to the kitchen.  

**Part 21**

Well, if none of them were hungry, she'd make something for herself.  She was hungry, maybe tacos.  And a brownie or two.  God, she was already having weird food cravings.  And it was only the third month!  What was it going to be like in a month? Two months? Six months?!

"What are we having?" Quatre's voice woke her from her daydream.

"Huh, what?  Oh, tacos," she answered, "with brownies.  Mix them if you please."

"Taco and brownie?"

"Cut me some slack, I'm pregnant."

"You know, that does taste kinda good," Duo walked into the room.

"You would say that, Duo," she responded, popping her nacho-like concoction into the microwave.  On the plate was a layer of tortilla chips, then a layer of refried beans, salsa and cheese.  Off her plate, next to the microwave, were two big, fresh brownies from a platter on the counter.  "Who made these?"

"I did," said Trowa from the doorway.  "It's Quatre's favorite, I had to do something while you two were gone."

"This is your favorite?" she asked, her mouth full of a giant bite of it.  "It's really good."

"Made it from scratch," Trowa said proudly.

"You guys want any tacos?" Anicka urged the group as Heero walked in.  "Make your own, there's plenty fixings."  She gestured to the unorganized mess of opened containers and cans in the middle of the table, grabbing some black olives and tossing them on the top of her creation.

"I could eat these with anything," she said, popping a couple into her mouth.  "Check this out," she put one olive on each finger of her left hand.  "Want any?" she offered.

"Sure," Duo answered in his usual bizarre way.  She smirked at the braided American and expertly flicked the olive in his direction, hitting him square in the forehead.  "Thanks."

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" she asked as she caught the others off guard, firing olives at each of them in rapid succession, laughing each time it hit them in the face.  She then sat down and commenced her ravenous display of hunger by eating like a starving wolf under a full moon.  The other pilots looked on in near-fear, eating slowly.  Had she even been fed at the Winners?  She finally noticed the stares after finishing most of her meal.  "What?"

"Hungry?" Trowa asked her sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm eating for two," she answered, cramming a mouthful of taco-dipped brownie into her mouth.  "You know, what's the baby's name gonna be?  We may need to figure that out soon here.  Any ideas?"  The room fell silent, no one wanting to volunteer a suggestion.  

"Any at all?"

No one.

"Girls?  Anyone?"

No one.

"What about… Sanora," she threw out.  Anything to get the ball rolling.  And the room exploded.

"Aurora," Wufei said.

"Aurelia," Quatre suggested.

"Virginia," Heero prompted.

"Sidney," Duo submitted.

"Isn't that a guy's name?" Trowa asked.

"No, it's just one of those both-gender names.  You know, unisex.  Kinda like Pat and Max.  Or Evan and Hunter," Duo defended.

"Wait, I like Virginia.  It's got a certain ring to it – Virginia Estralla.  And oh, Evan's a guy's name," noted Anicka.  "Speaking of guy names…"

"Trowa."

"Duo."

"Wufei."

"Heero."

"Quatre." Each of them presented.  Anicka gave them all a dirty look and they started giving reasonable suggestions.

"Tad," Duo proposed.

"Brandon," Trowa recommended.

"Garrett," Heero urged.

"Ryan," Quatre suggested.

"Good one again, Heero.  Garrett Estralla sounds great, too.  Garrett or Virginia.  But they don't sound whole… um, any middle names?"

"No," Heero said.  The others just acted as if they had no clue whatsoever.  

"Oh… Kay.  I'll think of something.  You guys can finish eating," she said, looking down at her empty plate, wiping up the last of the salsa and refried beans with the last of her brownie, packing it into her mouth.  "I'm done."  She got up from the table and made her way to the living room.

**Part 22**

Quatre was the first to enter the room, about two minutes after Anicka sat down.  He sat beside her on the sofa, smiling and wrapping his arm around her.

"You're not mad, are you?" she asked as he opened his mouth to say something.

"About what?"

"Today you took on more than you have bargained for.  I've seen young families.  Some don't work, some do.  I don't know if this will work.  I'll be eighteen when the baby is born… and its names sound funny… incomplete.  What am I going to do?" she curled into him, resting her head on his chest.

"You could add another name to the end, you know."

"But what?  Estralla has been the family name for years… there's no other – "

"No.  I mean use Winner," Quatre interrupted.

"Virginia Estralla Winner, Garrett Estralla Winner, sounds good, wait.  Your family's name?  Can you do that?"

"On one condition.  There's only one way I can."

"That would be…"

"Marry me," he whispered.

"WHAT?"

"Marry me," he repeated, again in a low voice.

"Yes," she murmured in reply.

"Really?"

"Yes.  I let one love go.  I won't give up on another."

"What do we do now?"

"Run away together.  Not forever, just for a little bit, you know?  Just long enough to keep them guessing.  I know just the place," she paused, "America."

"Why America?"

"Well, there were stories passed down from my grandmother, Annie.  She went to this camp in America, in Wisconsin, she said.  It was beautiful there, and I've always wanted to visit it.  Apparently, it's long abandoned, but it would still be picturesque now.  And we can get married there."

"You should pack, I'm up for something spontaneous."

"Okay, wait.  Now?"

"Why not?"

"Um, let's think.  I've got a broken leg and a broken wrist, I'm pregnant and we have no way to get there and no supplies for a trip to the wilderness."

"Those are minor obstacles.  The wrist isn't a big deal.  Ever heard of a Canada leg?  And we have Swordsong and Sandrock.  And a store has got to be somewhere near there."

"Canada leg?"

"I remember seeing a man on Earth with an interesting crutch – his leg was bent and his knee rested on the metal thing and it was strapped around his leg so he could walk and use his hands at the same time.  Pretty cool.  They sell them in Canada.  You see a lot when you're a Gundam pilot and heir to a huge empire."

"Information overload.  Hold on a sec.  We leave here on our Gundams, go to Canada for supplies and a Canada leg, pray anyone doesn't catch us, go to this camp, stay for a while, then go to a church and get married.  Right?"

"Right."

"And what's this about being heir to a huge empire?"

"I inherit the entire Winner influence when I'm eighteen and when I'm ready for it.  I have twenty-nine sisters and I'm the only boy, so I get everything.  My sisters are taking care of it for me now."

"So if I marry you and my child is a Garrett Estralla Winner, he's heir after you?"

"Pretty much."

"That's so cool!  Anything else I need to know?"

"Not that I can think of now.  You?"

"A bunch, but I'll tell you when we get out of here."

"Out of here?  Are you leaving?" Trowa asked, walking out from the kitchen, followed by Heero, Duo and Wufei.

"Yes, Trowa.  Anicka and I are going away for a little while," Quatre said.

Anicka kissed him and, getting up, she said, "I'm going to pack."

"Good, I need to talk to you," Trowa sternly said.

"All right, ah, follow me."  She limped to her room with Trowa close behind.  He shut the door gently behind him and turned to Anicka, who was resting her leg on her bed.  "What is –"  Her sentence was interrupted by Trowa's hand slapping her precisely on the face.  The blow not only stung, but also took her by surprise.  

"What the hell was that for?" she asked, trying to return the impact with her casted arm.  He stopped the blow mid-strike, holding her cast with a white-knuckled grip.

"You're going to marry him, aren't you?

"What's it to you?"

"Are you going to marry him?" he asked, twisting her broken arm and bringing tears quickly to her eyes.

"Why do you want to know?" she persisted, the pain in her arm burning on her brain.  Yet, she wouldn't give in.

"Because you aren't the only person who has ever loved him."  He shoved her backwards and she lost her balance, twisting her body mid-air to land on her bed.  

"Trowa…"

"Be good to him."

"What do you mean?"

"He was the first pilot I met.  We fought together and, to him, I was a friend.  But to me he's always been more.  And then you came along."

"I'm sorry.  I didn't know."

"That's why I'm telling you.  But don't tell Quatre, please, he won't understand."

"I do, and I won't.  But you don't tell anyone about our plans, okay?  I want to be able to surprise them."

"Okay, I won't if you won't."

"Great.  Now can I pack, dear, I don't think you want to stay for that."

Trowa smiled.  "Got it."  He turned and walked out.

**Part 23**

Well, that's good to know, Anicka thought, rubbing her face.  She dug into the giant blue duffel bag she brought from home for a journal her grandmother gave her.  Where is it… she turned every page carefully, coming to a spot in the middle where an extra piece of paper had been placed.  Here it is!  The map to the camp!  She flipped it over.  And the map of the camp!  She carefully returned the fragile old document to the journal, packing it thoughtfully in a smaller green duffel with her clothes for the trip.  She also loaded hiking boots, her swimsuit, her favorite red dress and a first aid kit.  She hefted the green bag over her shoulder and walked out to the hallway.  Seeing Quatre's door open across the hall, she strolled in.

"Hey, sexy," she said, dropping her bag to the floor.  He was packing his bag, a black one, with his best suit.  But she only saw a grey bundle.  "What's that?"  She tugged on a corner of the package.

"I'll show you when we get there, I have to have something special for after camping."

"Good, I do, too.  Are we going today?"

"We should leave as soon as possible."

"Can we go tomorrow morning?"

"Whenever you want to, Anicka."

"Sorry if you want to go today, but it's what, two o'clock and I kinda want a chance to meet everyone before we go for a week, no offence.  You and Trowa are the only two I've really talked to."

"Wait, what did he want to talk about?"

"Oh nothing," she flustered, "Just some Gundam program stuff."

"Oh, okay.  Well, I'm packed and ready to go."  He started to the door and Anicka reached for her bag.  "I'll get that."  He picked it up and continued out the door. 

"You know, that's not the first time you've taken my bag for me," she said in the hall.

"I'm fully aware."  The couple reached the living room and Quatre neatly set the bags next to the TV stand.  Seeing the love seat wide open, they sat down, taking up only half of the couch.

"So, are you guys going anywhere?"  Duo asked.

"We're going camping for about a week," Anicka said, addressing everyone, "We'll be leaving tomorrow on Swordsong and Sandrock."

"Why the short notice?" Heero asked.

"Probably because I just thought of it," Quatre said.

"What are you going to do out there?"  Wufei questioned.

"Well, we'll be in the middle of nowhere," Anicka started, snuggling closer to Quatre, "with no one around for miles and miles," she looked up to meet his downward gaze, "probably just enjoy nature."  She laughed.  Yeah, nature will happen.  A lot.  "So, how did you all meet?"

That was unexpected.  "Um, we're all from the colonies and were given the same mission – to destroy OZ.  They set a trap for us, we met there," Heero said with a hint of regret in his voice.

"When was that?"

"I don't know, almost a three years, though," Trowa replied.

"What's the rest of your story, Anicka?" Duo asked.

"It's a long one," she said, sitting forward a little.

"We have time," Wufei encouraged.  She won't be hearing my story, but that's no reason I can't hear hers.

"I was born seventeen years and nine months ago and my mother lived only long enough to feed me once.  I had a brother who was four years older than me and a loving father.  My brother and I went to the same school starting when I was five – it was a kindergarten through twelfth grade all boy's school, but I got a break because I had a single parent.  They didn't even treat me like a girl, either, I was an equal.  So I may not act as a girl might.  I made friends easily and that's how I met Gavin in sixth grade.  He was my best friend.  Before the war, I lived at his house because it was closer to school.  Then the war started and I went back home to build Swordsong.  And the rest is history."  She leaned back, looking around the room at everyone.  The silence started to weigh down on her, and she thought of a question.  "Speaking of school, that reminds me.  Is there a school around here that you go to?  I'm falling behind, losing my knowledge," she pronounced the k in knowledge just to see what would happen.

"We are near Saint Gabriel's Academy, the Sank Kingdom School.  We went there for a while, then we trying to break up the war.  We could enroll you this week, we're going to sign up, too," Trowa observed.

"Why haven't you signed up yet?"

"Usually, I would do that.  I've been kind of preoccupied," Quatre said, hugging her close to him and feeling the pressure of her shoulder on his ribs, and yet, not caring.

"Oh, hey, what's on TV?" Anicka asked, finally noticing the big screen along the wall.

"I don't know," Wufei picked up the remote and started rapidly flipping through channels, saying "stupid" at each one, then switching to the next.

"Hey, give me that!  That was a good show!  Turn it back!" Duo scrambled for the remote, and Wufei hid it behind his back and leaned on it.  "You ticklish, Wu-Chan?" he asked sarcastically, tormenting Wufei by tickling his armpits.

"I give, I give!" he hit Duo on the face with the remote and sat back, his face resuming its customary stone-like appearance. 

"Yes!  Time for some Rowdy Ruff Boys!" he sat back and put his feet back on the coffee table, forcing Wufei to clamber to the other end of the couch.  Heero, sitting on a lounger, looked at the TV and frowned.

"This again?  Why do we have to watch this crap every time you get the remote?" Heero complained.

"Because I have the power in the palm of my hand and it's up to me."  Duo grinned at Heero.

Heero stared unfeeling straight into Duo's eyes and spoke.  "Duo, if you don't give me the remote, I will take Deathsythe to Antarctica and self destruct."

"Okay, here you go, don't mess with Deathsythe!"  He tossed the controller across the room and Heero turned the channel to the favorite, Music Mix TV.

"What's this?" Anicka asked, seeing hard rock on the screen.

"It's a music mix station, they change the kind of music every half hour," Trowa said, kicking back in his chair and bobbing his head to the sound.

"So, what do we do now?"

Anicka learned that afternoon about almost everything that had happened to them since they received their Gundams.  She heard the stories about Zechs and Lady Une and Treize.  She heard about Hilde and Relena and Catherine and Mariemaia.  The story about self-destructions and near-death experiences and opposing friends and double agents.  They talked over their dinner of macaroni and cheese, and after.  Anicka and Quatre went to bed early that night, sleeping in her room, ready for the next day.


	4. Book 4

**Book Four**

**Part 24**

_They made up their minds, and they started packing_

_They left before the sun came up that day_

_An exit to eternal summer slacking_

_But where were they going without ever knowing the way?_

"The Way" - Fastball

Early that morning, early enough to see the sun came up, Anicka and Quatre woke up and started to get ready to leave.  Their bags were packed, and Sandrock and Swordsong had been refueled the day before.   Anicka wrote a note to the other pilots, telling them that she would keep Quatre out of trouble, and that she would keep herself out of it as well – nothing would go wrong.

They left, Anicka taking care for her injured arm and leg and Quatre keeping lookout, watching for anyone who may be suspicious of two Gundams flying for the former Americas.  The excuse of a vacation worked every time, those times being only a small carrier and a commercial air lining company.  Reaching the small town near the camp later that night, they stopped for supplies.  Anicka hobbled into the general store, holding close to Quatre, the Gundams close by in a meadow in the woods.  They picked up a bag of groceries, a Canada leg for Anicka and a used Jeep for driving around the camp.  Everything fit easily in Swordsong's storage compartment, except the Jeep.  Quatre craftily strapped it to the back of Sandrock, using a lot of rope and cord in the process.  They then left, in search for the abandoned campground.

They traveled for only ten miles over old roads and forest until Anicka found that they were over the camp, according to the map.  She looked down, seeing the roofs of seasoned, broken-down buildings, clustered near a small lake.  They brought Swordsong and Sandrock down to a meadow near the largest cluster of buildings, less than a mile from the lake, after un-strapping the Jeep and parking it on the road.  Worn signs proclaimed this area as "Thunderbird."  

Anicka, awestruck, stepped out of her Gundam and looked around the meadow, seeing a totem pole, covered in vines, and a cluster of sticks, resembling a tiny, square building, but full of ash from campfires past.  "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Quatre answered, jumping from Sandrock and walking, looking skyward, to Swordsong, arms at the ready to support Anicka, taking some supplies from the storage area.  It seemed as if they were behind the main building, there wasn't much around the meadow besides the lodge and two platforms up a trail, behind the fire pit and totem.  Anicka reached into her pocket and pulled out the map of the camp.

"This must be Totem Pole Meadow.  And that," she gestured to the large building, "is Thunderbird Lodge."

"And we're behind it, but what are those?" Quatre pointed at the two platforms.

"They must be the cook's and the staff tents," Anicka said, consulting the map again.

She and Quatre walked around the building, noting the giant porch on the back, where girls had sung camp songs years ago.  In front of the building, the road wound around a tree and in front of a small building, marked "Health Center."  The Health Center was less than one hundred feet away from the Central Latrines, and they were near the same distance from the shower house.  "Look at all of this, can you believe that people lived here such a long time ago?"  She walked faster, testing the integrity of her Canada leg.  "We should stay here."  They arrived at a large building, labeled Staff House on the map.  She tried to open the door, to no avail.  So Quatre threw his shoulder into it and the door opened with a loud creak.  The residence looked as if it hadn't changed in many years, if only for the many cobwebs around.  On the left wall was a set of cubbyholes, with a paper sign over it proclaiming "Mail."  To the right, a small kitchen next to a bathroom.  The middle of the room was a lounge with an old TV, a dusty computer and various items of furniture.  Quatre set the duffel bags down on a rusty bed frame, the mattresses for which were piled in a corner.  The forgotten metal protested to the weight with a small creak.

"Quatre, I think we should go to bed.  I'm tired, the sun's going down and I want to do a lot of stuff tomorrow.  Don't you think so?"

"Yes."  He started moving the beds around, unhappy with the present arrangement.  He moved two of them next to each other, and covered them with mattresses.  The bags were each placed at the end of one of the beds.  They got dressed, undressed in fact, pulled out the blankets and went to bed.  Anicka curled up into a ball, facing Quatre and he pulled her close, keeping away the frigid night air.

**Part 25**

"Let's go for a drive this morning, maybe to the lake?" Anicka asked over breakfast.

"Sounds good," Quatre answered through a mouthful of Lucky Charms.

"Maybe we could go by the old barn, too, I'd love to see the horses."

"Wouldn't they have left by now?"

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully, "but if you had free shelter somewhere, wouldn't you stay in the vicinity?  And they were trail horses, or at least generations past were, so wouldn't it become an instinct?"

"Anicka, you lost me, dear.  And I think you're over-thinking the whole thing."

"The barn is on the way to the lake, we could at least check it out."

"Okay."  The couple finished their breakfasts, Anicka consumed three bowls of cereal in the time it took Quatre to eat one.  She was visibly excited and practically dove out the door when Quatre had finished.

The drive to the barn was silent except for the hum of the engine and the occasional 'Hey look at that!'  The scenery surrounding the road was like nothing they had ever seen before.  Birch, oak, maple, cedar, pine, fern and flower were visible in all directions, vines and small weeds covered the road.  A doe and two fawns even crossed their path.  The car moved gently over the road, going down one hill and gently climbing the gradual slope of another.  At the top, they could see rusted fences and an old wooden barn with a green roof.  The area around the barn was bushes and short grasses, and past the barn and pasture was the forest.  Anicka gasped, and got out of the car slowly, shutting the door with a light click.  She walked, limping, to the fence, moving lightly across the grass.  Quatre followed close behind, but wasn't as cautious as Anicka.  He let the door slam behind him and tromped up behind her.  Anicka climbed so she was looking over the fence, her feet on the bottom level and her arms crossed over the top, holding her head up.  She motioned for Quatre to stop and be quiet, then pointed towards the woods.  At first, he didn't see anything, but then, a group of horses, all different colors, walked out cautiously, looking all around them.  Anicka counted – there were six of them.  The first, a stallion, sauntered out.  He was chestnut red, with an intimidating white stripe down his face.  A painted mare and her spotted colt followed him.  They were both white and buckskin, but the colt had some chestnut on him.  Three other mares accompanied them, they were a brown, a dapple-grey appaloosa and a pure white.

"Oh my God…" Anicka said, staring at the small group of horses.  "Told you."

"Yes, you did," Quatre came and stood on the fence next to her, one hand on the fence and the other around her waist.  The small herd moved out on to the field.  Their ears stayed cocked towards the two foreign animals.  Instincts told them that these were lost members of the herd, but that they should stay alert.  So they did.

"Look, they move as a group.  The big red one, that's the alpha male.  And the one with the baby is the alpha female.  All animals have them.  The strongest and the smartest.  The other three are part of the herd.  The grey one's pregnant!"  The grey looked her direction and Anicka smiled and looked downward at the bulge in her frame.  "Their faces… I think they're Arabians."

"How can you tell?" Quatre asked, wondering why he didn't know.

"I've always had a soft spot for Arabians."  She gazed at the Arabian horses and at her Arabian man standing by her.  The horses, sensing them not as enemies but friends, started walking towards them.  The friendliest, the brown, trotted right up to them and sniffed for all she was worth, a deep consciousness telling her that these were good animals.  Aware that they were friends, she started rubbing her ears on the fence under their hands.

"Okay, all right," Anicka whispered.  She reached out her hands and scratched the ears of the mare.  She exhaled in satisfaction, and whinnied to her fellows.  The white came, followed slowly by the grey, the paint and the baby.  The stallion stayed behind, watching with wide eyes and open ears.  Anicka and Quatre had quite a job of scratching the ears of all five horses.  

When the horses went away, Anicka and Quatre went down to the lake.  The car went quickly down the hill to the lakeside, passing trees and grasses like they were nothing.  At the bottom of the hill, they came to a wide-open beach.  On the beach were a small shanty and a board covered in hooks.  The board was lying on the ground, much in the same place it had stood many years ago.  Anicka got out of the car and walked down to the beach.

"Don't you wish we could just stay here forever?  Look at how pretty it is," she took his hand and led him along the strip of sand next to the brownish water.  Looking at the water, there was a huge rack to the right, the beach faded away into a swampy area.  On the left, the beach abruptly ended, stopped by a huge oak tree extending over the water.  Anicka walked over to the rack, intended for canoe storage long ago, and sat on it.  Quatre sat right next to her, adjusting and helping Anicka keep her balance.  She leaned into him, and started to cry softly.  Quatre kissed her hair.

"What is it, Anicka?  What is wrong?"

"I just wish my family and friends could be here to see it.  That's all.  My father would have loved this."

"Mine, too."

"What happened to your father?"

Quatre was silent.  He looked up at the sky and back down at Anicka.  She watched him with expectant eyes.  "He… died."

"How?"

"I… don't want to talk about it."  A single tear ran down his face.

"Quatre…" she started, eager but saddened by his tone.  "You can tell me."

"You mean you really don't know?"

"No, I don't."  What was he talking about?

"The colonies were going to use his satellite for making weapons.  He was a huge pacifist and broke the satellite off the colony before they could.  He told me not to be a Gundam pilot, but I hadn't been listening.  He bravely fought for us.  They shot the satellite down with the beam cannon and almost killed my sister, Iria, and me too.  She saved my life.  And I kind of went a little, um, crazy.  He was assassinated."

"Oh my god…"

"Yeah…"

"You went… crazy?"

"Yes, didn't we talk about this the other day?"

"They kind of did, but Heero and Trowa kind of skipped over it, they sped on to the next thing."

"That's… when I blew up Catalonia's factory… that is why he's after me."

"Is that guy crazy, or is it just me?"

"It's not just you, it's as if he has something else on his mind."****

"Yeah…" she said, thinking.  "You know, it's really beautiful out here.  I wish I had my camera.  I didn't bring it, it's back at the safe house."

"I can go and get one tonight after supper," Quatre volunteered.

"That'd be great!  We definitely need one!  And maybe some new blankets for the cabin, it was sort of chilly in there last night."

"For both of us.  I'll go tonight."

They laid in the sand for a while, then decided to go back to the cabin.  Quatre made some macaroni and cheese for supper that night.  Then sunset, and Quatre left for the store.

Quatre walked into the small building, arms full of shopping bags, and saw Anicka curled up on the couch by the door.  The moonlight reflected off her face and shoulders and gave her an eerie, yet endearing appearance.  He lightly pulled the green blanket over her shoulders and tucked it in around her.  Kissing her on the forehead, he said "Goodnight," then he walked across the room and curled up in the lounge chair and fell asleep.

BANG!  It had been several hours since Quatre had returned and a loud noise jolted him out of dreamland.  Shadows moved over and around the couch.  Ah, Ani must have needed some fresh air and let the door slam behind her on her way back.  Then there was a muffled scream and he realized that they weren't alone.

"Ani-" his shout and attempt to stand was stopped short by two figures pulling him back and tying him to the chair.  His eyes moved, quickly and terrified, around the room, following the kidnappers as they took a struggling Anicka outside.  Another man walked in, speaking with an eerie voice.

"The knots tying you are fairly loose, Winner.  You should be able to get out within minutes.  But, of course, by then we will be long gone.  And I'm taking the girl."

No, no, no, no, no… not him, not Catalonia, if I could only scream, if I could only yell… but this ass has his hand over my mouth… get it off, get it off…

"Let's go boys," he said, finally, sauntering out, followed by his two henchmen.

"Anicka!" he screamed, struggling against his bindings.

"Quatre!" she yelled back.  He heard doors slam shut and engines of cars start and he knew she was gone.

He woke up.  Birds were chirping outside and the sky was grey and overcast.  It was a dream, he thought, I'll open my eyes and she'll be on the couch, just as she was last night.  It couldn't be real…

But his fears were realized when, at last, the comfort of sleep was lifted and his eyes opened.  Frayed rope lay around the lounger, and the couch blankets had been ripped off the couch.

**Part 26**

Anicka woke up in a cold sweat, thinking much the same as Quatre – it had to be a dream.  But her aching arm and leg told her otherwise.  Cautiously, she opened her eyes and saw that she was sleeping in a small cell, with only an old wool blanket and a thin mattress for comfort.  This couldn't be happening.  "No."  The sound of her voice echoed in the dim light of the cell and into the darkness beyond.  Then she heard a voice respond.

"She's up, sir, you might want to come down here."

"On my way," someone answered through a communications device.

"Who's coming?" she yelled out at the guard.

"Someone you will be getting to know soon enough."

"Who?" she shouted, louder.  She tried to get up, but couldn't.  Her leg gave way under her and she fell back to the floor with a thump.  The guard laughed, and his laughter was joined with that of another.  I know that voice…

"So, you must be Anicka."

"No."  I know that voice.

"Do you know who I am?"  Footsteps resonated, he was walking towards her.

"Yes."

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No, why don't you tell me, asshole."

"I need Quatre."

"Catalonia."

"Yes, you're right," he walked right up to the bars and she finally got a glimpse of his face.  He had grey hair, a long pointed nose and a long chin.  He reminded her of the stallion at the camp, proud and angry.  

"How dare you," she stated, defiantly.

"No, dear girl, how dare you.  I believe you are the one laying bruised in a cage."

"You're more trapped than you think."

"How do you mean?"

"He'll figure it out, Catalonia.  Quatre and the others will come for me."

"Good, that's what I count on."

"What?"

"That's what I count on, Anicka Estralla," his slippery voice emphasized every word.  "Did he tell you what he did to me?"

"Yes.  He cost you millions of dollars by blowing up your factory."  Why does he care what Quatre has told me?

"You think that's all, don't you? Naïve girl.  You know nothing.  Why would I be chasing him for this long when I could be spending that money on rebuilding?"

"You're a crazy bastard, that's why."

"You'll find out soon enough."  The footsteps echoed again, and he was gone.  

Anicka's mind was racing.  Why would he be spending all that money on mobile suits and weaponry, and not on a new factory?  But Quatre didn't know about it… and that fruit will tell me, won't he?  I just hope he didn't do anything to Quatre, I'd die, I'd just die…

Quatre had been sitting in the lounger for more than an hour.  The fact that his pregnant fiancé had just been kidnapped by his archenemy took a while to sink in to his mind.  But he had another problem.  How am I going to get her out? He thought, with tears running down his red, sweaty face.  Catalonia will be watching for Sandrock, and any other Gundam for that matter.  And how did he find them?  Only four people knew where they were, and he could trust all four, right?  It definitely wasn't Heero, he didn't show any desire to defect and go against one of his only allies.  And it wasn't Duo, either.  Duo needed enemies like he needed a punch in the gut.  Wait… his enemies had a tendency to punch him in the gut… Note to self: punch Duo.  It seems to make people feel better.  That left Trowa and Wufei.  Wufei wouldn't go to that much trouble to be left alone, and Trowa had proved to be trustworthy so many times they both had lost count.  Unless… Gundam program stuff my butt!  What did Trowa say to you, Anicka?

The young man slowly uncurled and stood up in the room, amidst the rope and blankets on the floor.  Shoeless and shirtless, he ran out into the crying sky to Sandrock and tried to call home.  "Hello, hello, guys, come on, dammit, answer!" he yelled into the receiver.

"Hey, Quatre, what's up?"

"Duo, shut up for a second.  I need your help.  Catalonia took Anicka and now I don't know what to do."

"Who is it, Duo?" a soft voice said from the background.

"NO, DUO!  DON'T TELL HIM ANYTHING!"  Anyone but Trowa!

"Okay, Quatre.  I'll be there as soon as I can."

Quatre turned off the communications link and sat in Sandrock, looking out the view screens at the woods around him.  This was Anicka's dream – the trees and the old buildings – and she had been taken from this place.  The rain fell outside and his tears fell inside Sandrock.  He suddenly had an urge to fly Sandrock over the camp an obliterate it all, but he didn't.  His only task at this point was to stay sane until Duo came.

"Hey, I have to go for a while," yelled Duo, running past the kitchen, around the corner and to his room.

"Where?" Heero asked.

"Quatre's having some – problems – and he wanted me to come and help," he shouted from his room, throwing black and camouflage clothes into a backpack.

"Like what?" Trowa yelled back.

"I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure I'll find out soon enough," he ran back through the hallways and out to his Gundam, Deathscythe.

"All right, Deathscythe, don't fail me now."  He remembered the words of his favorite Playstation character, Spyro.  " ' Looks like I got some things to do.' "

**Part 27**

Anicka sat on the old mattress, staring blankly out the window and absently braiding her hair.  Where am I? She thought to herself.  It's raining outside, and there's tall grass for miles.  And Quatre's alone in the woods.  By himself, probably worried sick.  Can he even find me?  I just want to get out of here.  Why do they even have me guarded, it's not like I can do anything.  I'm locked in here and I can't even walk, no thanks to them.

"Hey, girl!" the guard yelled.

She shook away her daydream.  "Huh?"

"Dinner."  He walked over and passed Anicka a bowl of hot chili through a small door in the bars.  She tied up her hair, took the small meal and half-heartedly ate it.  Her stomach was still grumbling even after finishing.  That share must have been for the baby, she thought.

"Um, hey!" she shouted at the guard.  "Can I have some more?" she asked timidly.

He laughed and walked over to the cell.  He reached in the door with both hands, taking the bowl with one and slapping her with the other, knocking her over.  "Ingrate," he spat, refilling the bowl at a crock-pot on his desk.  She slowly stood from where she had fallen, rubbing the side of her face.  She took the half-full bowl back, and emptied it.  Setting it down on the ground by the cell door, she curled up on her mattress and tried to sleep and think of better times.

"That must be it," Duo said to himself.  He had scanned for Gundanium and found both Sandrock and Swordsong in the meadow.  He circled it several times and landed Deathscythe in the middle.  He saw all of the buildings and went to the one Quatre told him to an hour into his journey.  He gently pushed the door open and quietly said, "Quatre?  Are you in here?"

"DUO!  Thank God!"  He was curled up in the corner where the mattresses had been.

"What happened here?" Duo looked around the room.  It was a mess.  The blankets and rope were on the floor, and Quatre, in a frenzy, had pulled all of the mattresses and cushions from the couch, chair and corner.

"I got… nervous.  I thought they'd come back for me, too."

"Who, Quatre?"  He slowly walked over and sat next to the wreck.

"Who do you think, Duo?  Catalonia!  They took her and now they're gonna get me!"  Quatre started crying again.  "What am I going to do?"

"Quatre, I have a plan."

"How long will it take to get her out?  I can't stand it, Duo.  I need her.  It hurts not to have her here with me.  How long will it take?"

"I don't know, Quatre.  But we will get her out."

The days went by for Anicka – slowly and painfully, long and devastating.  Life was harsh in the cell.  Her daily ration wasn't enough for both her and the child inside of her.  She grew sick and pale from lack of food, but was content to know that her baby was suffering less than she was.  Catalonia hadn't said anything to her in days, and there was no sign from the outside world.  Not even Quatre.

Is he even coming for me? She thought.  Thoughts like this were common.  Does he even miss me, does he even love me the way he says he does?  He has to.  He wouldn't ask to marry me if he didn't, would he?  Then why isn't he here?

BOOM!  She started.  It's nothing, she realized, just the door slamming.

A proud figure sauntered in.  

Catalonia – that bastard.  What the hell does he want now?

"Where is he, Estralla?"

"Who?" she lied.

"Don't play cute with me.  You know who."

"How am I supposed to know?  The only people I talk to are your damned guards, myself and this lump in my stomach."

"We tracked the Gundam Deathscythe to the camp.  It looked suspicious, so we checked it out after a few days.  Quatre is gone, Anicka.  All we found was this."  Two guards walked in, dragging an unconscious figure between them.  They threw him into the cell, unafraid of any attempt of escape from Anicka.  She reached out and caught the figure, turning him over and laying him on the mat.

"Duo!" she said when she saw whom it was.  "Wake up, Duo.  What are you doing here?  Is Quatre okay?  Wake up, Duo!"

The guards laughed.  "He's not going to be up for quite a while, girl.  Now go to sleep."

"I'm not tired!  What did you do, bastards?  Stay away from Quatre!  Just leave him alone!  Leave us alone!"  She cried uncontrollably.  Why didn't they just leave her alone?  The guards laughed again and escorted Catalonia out, leaving the most inept guard there for the night.

"Anicka?  Are you okay?" Duo sat up and tried to console her.

"Duo!  You're awake!"

"Been awake the whole time, pretty good acting, huh?"

"Yes, tell me everything.  How's Quatre?  Is he coming?  Why isn't he there at the camp?  Did they do anything to him?"

"Anicka, Anicka, Anicka.  He's fine.  He broke down.  He needs you back, Anicka.  It's like he's addicted to you.  He can't live without you.  He flipped."

"Really?"  He loves me, he really loves me!

"Yeah.  Are you doing okay?  Have they been treating you all right?"

"What does it look like?"  She moved out into the light so he could see her.  She was badly bruised, and her arm and leg, previously broken, were swollen.  "They beat me, Duo.  If I ask for something, they serve it up – with a good whippin'."

"And the baby?"

"It's fine.  They're not that mean.  It's eating all of my food, though, not enough for both of us here.  When can we get out?  When's Quatre coming?"

"Anicka, I have a secret for you."  He checked to see that the guard was sleeping.  "I'm bustin' out tonight.  We'll be back for you, don't worry, but we don't want to see you hurt.  We'll get you out tomorrow after I meet up with Quatre."

"How are you getting out?"

He pulled a gun from his baggy shirt.  "Check this out."  He shot the window out.  The guard awoke, but it was too late.  Duo was already up, out and running down the field.

He's gone, she thought.  He left, and he didn't take me!  What the hell!  But Quatre's okay.  That's all that counts.  And I'll be out soon.  He's going to get us out.

Quatre was hunched down in the grass, wearing the camouflage army fatigues that Duo had given him.  A black figure dove near him and army-crawled in his direction.

"How is she?" Quatre asked the figure, which was Duo.

"We need to get her out, Quatre."

"What's wrong?  How is she?  And the…"

"They've been beating her, Quatre.  She's okay, the baby's okay, too, we just need to get her out."  He paused, seeing the expression on Quatre's face, as if a piece of him was in pain.  "Tonight, Quatre.  We'll get her out tonight."

The guard saw the whole thing.  "What the hell!  How the hell did he get out?" he opened the door and pinned Anicka to the wall with all of his might.  "What did you do?"

"Nothing!"  She struggled against his hold on her shoulders.  "Let me go!"  Too weak to fight, she ceased her struggle.

"He's gonna kill me for this, bitch!" he quickly let her go and punched her simultaneously in the eye and stomach.  She slumped down the wall in pain.  He kicked her in the back, more than once.  The guard coldly stomped out, slamming the iron door behind him.

How dare he!  He punched both of us… it hurts… so… much…

She doubled over in pain and slipped away into her dream world.

Ouch!  A sensation of pain and a loud noise woke her.  Ouch!  What is that?  Something… it's not the hiccups.  It's not me, either.  Boom, ouch!  A gunshot!  But what's jumping?  Could it be the child in me?

Anicka stood straight up in her cell, up along the wall and under the broken window.  Gunshots sounded through the hallway and she shivered.  What was going on?  Who was running and why did it sound like it was getting closer?  Stay calm, she thought, they can't hear you if you don't say anything.  She sunk along the wall, the sounds of guns and feet pounding on her brain.  She snapped.

"Help!" she screamed in a panicked frenzy.

"She's back here!" a voice said.

"Anicka!" another man screamed.

It can't be…

A man ran around the corner.  He flattened himself against the wall and looked back where he had come from, covering the advance of another.  The other man ran out and to the other side of the corridor.  Darkness shadowed their faces, but the hallway light revealed a braided man and a blonde.  The one with the braid motioned to the blonde and he ran past the hallway to her cell.  She crawled up to the bars, pulled herself up and pushed the food door open.  The man stuck his face through the door and she kissed him passionately.

"Quatre!  I knew you'd come for me!"

"Anicka!  Are you okay?  Did they hurt you?  I gotta get you out!"  He aimed the pistol at the lock and pulled the trigger.  The gunshot echoed and the iron door swung open.  Quatre ran in and picked up the staggering Anicka.  She draped her arms around his neck and held on while he ran to Duo.

"What happened to you?" Quatre asked.  In the light, he could see her black eye and bruised body.  She looked thinner than she did the last time he saw her, and paler.  She couldn't even stand up.

"They… punched me… in the stomach.  It hurts… get us out, Quatre, please…" A single tear rolled down her cheek and she slipped away into unconsciousness.

"Who did this?" he looked up in a rage.  The guard dove behind the desk and Quatre walked over to him, still carrying Anicka.  He shot two rounds at the guard, not hesitating for a second.  "Duo, we have one more thing to do."

"What would that be?" his eyes lingered on the body of the guard.

"Talk to Catalonia."

They walked down a series of corridors, Quatre carrying his unconscious lady the whole time.  Guards saw the angry look on his face and told him exactly where to find their master.  Duo walked behind.  Quatre knew what he was doing, hopefully.  He wasn't usually wrong.

They came to a door with a sign on it, proclaiming 'Confidential: DO NOT ENTER.'  They did.  Catalonia was sitting at a huge desk, shuffling papers.  Quatre spoke.

"Who the hell do you think you are?  Why did you do this to her?"

"What on earth are you getting at, Quatre?  My guard did that."

"You know what I mean, you bastard."

"You owe it to me, Quatre.  And you know it.  She doesn't even know why she's here, does she?  You didn't tell her."

"About what?"

"The real reason I've been after you this whole time.  You killed my wife and son – in the explosion – they died at your hands."

"So you try to kill Anicka?  She didn't even know about that part of my life.  She didn't have any part in it!"

"And my wife and son were an exception?  They were totally undeserving to die!"

"I don't know why you think you're the only one who lost someone in all of that.  It was a war.  Many people died."

"Granted, but…"

"But nothing!  Fuck you, Catalonia!  Never come near me again!"  He emptied his gun into the old man.  He didn't deserve to live, he thought, and walked out without even looking back.

The Jeep was parked several miles away, not visible from the factory.  Quatre hardly noticed the extra weight he was carrying after the first mile, and Duo had given up tries at conversation.  Quatre wouldn't answer.  When they reached the car, Duo got into the driver's seat, and Quatre sat in the back, gently laying Anicka over the seat.  His lap became her pillow.  He looked at her face, covered in bruises, but looking so peaceful and brave.  Her hair dirty and unruly, but amazingly in the same braid she had put it in upon waking up that first day.  Quatre did the best he could to tame it with his fingers.  "What happened to you, Anicka?" he whispered.  "Will you be all right?  How did you fair without me?  I'm so sorry.  I shouldn't have let them get you."  He became quiet, laid down on the seat and fell asleep next to her.


	5. Book 5

**Book Five**

**Part 28**

_Without you I'm not okay_

_And without you I've lost my way_

_My heart's stuck in second place ooh_

_Without you_

"Without You" - Dixie Chicks

The Jeep came to a halt at the end of a long drive over county roads.  Anicka woke up and tried to move, to no avail.  She could see Quatre's closed eyes in front of hers.  He was laying over her, around her, protecting her, fast asleep, so she didn't try waking him.  Duo, however, did.

"Quatre, you up?"  The Arabian woke with a start.  His deep, dark eyes stared forward into Anicka's pools of brown.  She smiled and he hugged her tight.

"Yea, Duo," he answered.  "We'll be inside in a minute, leave the couch open for us."

"All right, Quatre," he said, and left them in the car together.

"I could hear you, Quatre, I couldn't wake up, I tried, but I couldn't.  It hurts, it hurts so much…"

"What hurts, Anicka?  What?"  He released her slightly.

"Everything.  It hurt not to have you there with me.  It hurt when they hit me – every day.  They punched me, it jumped, Quatre.  The baby jumped at the sound of your gun when you got me.  It knew it was safe."

"I should have come sooner."

"It wasn't your fault, you didn't know what to do."

"But I could have let them get me, too, then I would have been there with you."

"But we wouldn't be out right now if you did.  I missed you."

"I missed you, too.  Do you want to go inside?  It's warm in there."

"Yeah, but Duo's in there."

"He'll be fast asleep by now.  He sleeps heavier than a rock on a Sunday."

"What?"

"Let's just go in."

"I don't think I can walk, Quatre.  They hurt me pretty bad."

"I gotcha."  He got out of the car and picked her up, as he had done earlier that night, and carried her inside.  The place had been cleaned since the night of the kidnapping, it looked like she was just going home.  Quatre laid her on the couch, and asked, "Do you need anything?"

"Um, help into my pajamas, please?"  They smiled at each other.  He walked over to her bag, next to the bed Duo was on, and took out an old T-shirt, the one he had seen her wear the morning after he met her.  He walked back over to her, slowly.  She lay there, smiling, waiting.  He walked over to her and sat next to her body, slowly taking her battered shirt off.  She reached down her figure and undid her dirty pants; Quatre took off his shirt. He stood and pulled her pants off, throwing them into a pile with the shirts, and then his pants.  He lay down over her, holding himself up with his arms.  She propped herself up with her good arm and kissed him.  She pulled him down with her other arm.  He grabbed several blankets from the back of the couch and pulled them over himself, staying slightly above Anicka.  He kissed her cheeks and neck, but she grew limp.  He stopped and checked her breath.  She was sleeping soundly.  She breathed "I love you" to him in her sleep.  He kissed her once more and relaxed next to her, the dawn light shining through the windows.

**Part 29**

Duo sat up on the bed and looked around.  Quatre and Anicka were sleeping soundly on the couch, covered in a pile of blankets.  The sun was in the west, setting for the day.  Duo got up and put his clothes on for the day.  He left a note on the kitchen table, saying "Hey, Guys!  I left at about 7 last night, I'll be back tomorrow with a carrier for Sandrock and Swordsong – looks like Swordsong'll need some help getting back.  See you then!"  He left, quietly, and went towards the safe house.

The baby woke up.  It was squished between the body it was in and someone else.  It was too hot, so it kicked in all directions.  Anicka and Quatre woke up simultaneously.  "Sorry," Anicka joked.  

"It's okay," he understood.  "You want something for breakfast?  Toast?  Juice?  Eggs?"

"Scrambled eggs on toast, juice on the side, please," she answered.

He got up and went to the kitchen and saw the note from Duo.  "Anicka, Duo's getting us a carrier for Sandrock and Swordsong!  Says he doesn't think you can fly her back."

"Neither do I," she said, lifting herself up by her good arm and the couch.

"Good, I don't want you to get hurt worse than you already are."

"What do you mean by that?" she stalled.  She swung her good leg so she was sitting on the couch.  Then, gripping with her toes, she grabbed her pajama shirt and picked it up.  "Thanks for helping me with this last night."  She pulled it over her head and attempted to stand, but fell backwards onto the couch.

"What are you doing?" Quatre cracked an egg into the pan.  Leaving it over the wood-burning stove, he rushed over to her.  "Anicka…" He helped her up to a sitting position.  He gently lifted her up and became her human crutch, half-carrying her to the kitchen.  "We need to get you to a doctor," he said, setting her in a chair.

"How about when we get home?"

"Are you going to make it that long?"

"I've made it this far."

Quatre went back to the stove.  "Crap, I burnt the eggs!"  Stirring frantically, he removed the eggs from the skillet and put them on a plate.  "Will these be okay?"

"They're perfect!"  She looked at the eggs.  They were browned and crispy on some parts and gooey in others, but she didn't care.  It was her first decent meal in almost a week.

"Perfect?  They look gross!"

"Quatre, I've been eating ground mush for the past week.  This is so good," she said with a mouthful of food.

"What happened there, Anicka?  Duo said they beat you."

"They did.  Whenever I did or said anything wrong, or anything that they didn't like, they hit me.  Some guards were worse than others were, though; they tried not to hit me in the stomach.  When Duo escaped, the night guard beat me bad.  That's why I was sick last night."

"I killed him, Anicka.  I knew he did it and I killed him.  Catalonia, too."

"You… did… WHAT?!"

"They died at my hands.  And I have no regrets."

"Oh… Kay.  Umm…" She stuffed her face full of food to keep herself from saying something she would regret.

"What's that?" Quatre said suddenly after a few minutes of silence.  "Do you hear anything?"

"No…" A loud noise, like an airport runway, sounded through the forest.  "Yes."

"Must be Duo, he's back for the Gundams.  Want to go meet him?"

"Sure, can you help me?"

He smiled, lifted her off her feet and brought her out to the meadow.  The carrier's engines stopped, parked exactly where Deathscythe had been.  Duo jumped from the cockpit, letting himself down by retracting string, and landing on the ground softly.  

"Hey, guys!  Ani, you're awake!  Feeling okay?"

"I guess," she said, trying to stand, but still leaning on Quatre for support.  "We're going to the doctor when we get back."

"Did you tell everybody what happened, Duo?"

"Of course I did, everyone wanted to know.  Even Trowa."

"What does he have to do with this?" Anicka asked, remembering their last conversation.  It felt like such a long time ago.

"What did he tell you before we left, Anicka, when you were packing.  You said it was Gundam program stuff."

"He threatened me, he told me something and hit me and yelled at me about us getting…"  She realized Duo was there and stopped.

"He's-dead-I'll-kill-him," Quatre said all in one syllable, fuming, "How dare he…" 

She put the pieces together – Trowa's jealousy had pushed him to betraying their location to Quatre's enemy.  "Let me, when I'm better.  It's me he messed up," she said, when she wanted to yell incoherently about crushing his skull and ripping his balls off.  I could have died! She thought.  

He could have killed her!  Quatre thought.

Duo was confused.  "What's going on?"

"We'll tell you on the way back," the couple said.

Duo volunteered to get Sandrock and Swordsong into the carrier.  Quatre got a few of the new blankets from the cabin and put them over Anicka's seat in the cockpit.  He helped her in, and Duo got in after finishing with the Gundams.  Duo flew the craft back.

"What do you mean about Trowa, guys?  What's going on?"

"He's jealous of me for some reason.  It's so bad that he had to tell Catalonia where we were going.  He used me for bait, tried to get something from Quatre.  It backfired, I don't suppose he thought I would almost die."

Quatre was fuming, muttering "I'll kill him…" under his breath, continuously.

"Trowa?  Really?  What made him that jealous?"

"Ask him," she said, thinking she'd scream the real reason from the rooftops when she got home.  "Omigod!" she realized with a start, "We left the Jeep!"

"That's okay, we've got a van, and Quatre's got at least one car," Duo said.  "I admit it, that Jeep sure pulled through, though."

"I've been meaning to ask, how did you guys get me out?"

"It was all my idea," Duo said, noting that Quatre was still fuming, staring out the window.  "I let them find me.  They had a crappy old car, so Quatre followed them in the Jeep until he saw the building.  Then he parked and crawled on the ground and hid there.  You know what happened with me.  Then I met him in the field, and we got some rifles out of the Jeep.  We snuck in, shot anyone who tried to stop us, found you and got you out.  And here we are, about to land at home."

"We're here already?"

"Yeah, there it is, right under us.  Here we go…"

They started their descent, Quatre muttering the whole time.

**Part 30**
    
    _Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there_
    
    _With open arms and open eyes yeah_
    
    _Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there_
    
    "Drive" - Incubus

"They're back," Heero said.  The sound of the carrier landing shook the house.

"Already?" said Wufei.

"You heard Duo earlier today, he said they'd be back soon," Heero said.  Trowa rushed down the hall to his room and they heard the door lock behind him.  "What's eating him?"

"We're ba-a-ck!" Duo yelled from the warehouse door into the house.

"Welcome back!" Heero yelled.  Duo jovially bounce-walked into the room.  Quatre followed, carrying Anicka, as if it were now his custom.  But, this time, he had a fire in his eyes such as none of them had ever seen – even when he was crazy.  No, this was a differently crazed Quatre.  The angry fire was only burning for one person – Trowa.

"Hello everyone!" Anicka shouted form the arms of her fiancé.  "We're not late, are we?  How is everybody?  I missed you guys!"  Anicka was trying to cover up the Arabian's anger with her own blend of excess kindness.  She received odd looks from Heero and Wufei.

"Hello," Quatre said in a low voice.  "Where did Trowa go?"

"To his room, why?" Wufei said.

"I have to talk to him.  Anicka, do you want to sit on the couch?"

"Sure, the rest of you want to come with me?" she addressed to the remainder of the group.

"Yeah, let's go, guys," Duo joined in.  "Ani, you want me to help you?"

"Okay."  She shifted from lying in Quatre's arms to leaning on Duo's shoulder.  "Thanks!"  The group went into the living room, except for Quatre.  He went down the hall to Trowa's room.

"Can I come in?" he said politely, reaching for the door handle.

"Sure."  The door unlocked.  Quatre opened the door and shut it behind him.  He walked up to Trowa and slapped him hard across the face.

"That's for Anicka," he kicked Trowa in the chest, knocking him over, "and that's from me.  What the hell were you thinking?"

"What do you mean?" Trowa said, trying to sound innocent, clutching his chest in pain.

"You know what I mean…" he said in the lowest, angriest voice he could.  "You told Catalonia where we were going!  What were you thinking?  He almost killed her!  Did you see?  She almost died!  And why?  Because of your own selfish ambitions.   I could kill you for it."

"Sounds like you pretty much got it figured out…"

"No, I don't!  What made you so jealous that you would try to eliminate the one woman I have ever loved?"

"The only one you have ever loved?  You mean there haven't been any others?  Don't you think anyone might have ever thought that way about you?"

"No, Trowa… you don't mean…" His anger deepened.

"What do you think?"

"I think you have to stop lying to me.  Enough of this crap, Trowa.  I know Anicka told you – about us getting married.  If you didn't like it, you could have come to one of us.  I thought I could trust you, Trowa!"

"And I thought I loved you!"

"Trowa… no.  I'm sorry, but no.  And you should apologize to Anicka, she could have lost the baby, no thanks to you," he stopped and left the room.

"They sure are yelling in there," Anicka noted a little after Quatre entered the room.

"What happened, Anicka?  Duo told us a little bit of what was going on, but what happened?"

"They beat me up if I said something wrong, they beat me if I did something right, they beat me when I tried to escape… and now I hurt all over…" she moaned, "can one of you call the doc for me?  I need to go there sometime soon…"

"No problem," Duo got up and went to the kitchen, and Quatre walked out of the hall.

"What's up, Quatre?  She tried to sit up and Quatre sat under her head, becoming her pillow.

"Nothing," he started absently twirling her hair.

"Did you tell him?"

"Socked it right to him," he said sarcastically and truthfully.

"Just got off the phone with Doctor Sun, you're set for tomorrow at ten-thirty," Duo said, walking in to the room.

"Sun?  Iria?  Really?" Quatre said, sitting up straight.

"Yeah, they asked for our address, and when Quatre's name came up, the receptionist signed you up with Iria."

"Quatre, that's your sister, the one in the…"

"Yeah.  You get to meet her tomorrow, great."

"I have a lot of people to meet, don't I?  You all have told me so much about all of these people that I don't even know."

"We should have a party," Heero said sarcastically, not meaning anything by it.

"That's a great idea, Heero!  We haven't seen everyone together in one place in a long time, sounds like a good idea," Quatre said.

"I was being sarcastic…" he confessed.

"It's still a good idea," Anicka said.  "I do want to meet everyone."  The doorbell rang.

"Who is that?" Duo said rhetorically, answering the door.  "Oh my god!" he yelled.  Arms and legs circled around him.

"Duo!  It's been a while!"  The girl released him and turned to the rest of the room.  "Oh!  Who're you?" she asked Anicka, seeing her on the couch with Quatre. 

"I'm Anicka.  And you are…"

"Hilde Schibecker.  Pleased to meet ya!" she took Anicka's hand and shook it.  She leaned over to Quatre and whispered "Good goin'!"  Quatre grinned.

She sat over by Duo on the other couch, Wufei and Heero sat in the chairs.  "What are you doing here, Hilde?  Your visit is totally unexpected," Duo asked.

"Rumors around the Preventers said that there was a new Gundam traveling with Sandrock.  I came to check it out."

"Oh," Anicka yawned, "it's just me.  Quatre, what time is it?"

"Whoa!  It's eleven o-clock already!"

"I'm going to bed.  Sorry I can't stay and chat, I've had a long day, Hilde.  Will you be here tomorrow?"

She looked up at Duo and he smirked, yawned and nodded in one motion.  "Sure.  See you tomorrow," she answered.

Anicka tried to get up, but could only sit awkwardly, gripping the back of the couch for support.  Quatre smirked, noting her dilemma.  "Goodnight, everybody," he said, picking her up yet again and carrying her into his room for the night.

**Part 31**

"Breakfast, anyone?" Hilde asked the next morning when Quatre and Anicka had made their way to the kitchen in their pajamas.

"Sure," Anicka said sleepily, "I'll have a bowl of cereal and orange juice."

"In the same bowl?" Hilde asked, confused.

"Yeah.  Problem?"

"No, but gross!  Why would you want that?"

"Because I'm pregnant."

"Oh! Well then…" she poured Anicka a huge bowl of corn flakes and drowned it in orange juice.

"Ask Duo for the details.  Where did you sleep last night?" Anicka pried, noticing that Hilde was cooking in one of Duo's old t-shirts.

"Duo's room," she answered with a smile in her voice as well as on her face, handing Anicka the bowl of cereal.

"Is he up yet?" Quatre asked, pouring himself a glass of juice.

"He told me he had a long day yesterday, so I let him sleep in for a while.  Said something about 'living out of a cockpit for a day' – I didn't ask.  Shouldn't you be leaving now?  It's a quarter to ten."

"Nine-forty five!  Anicka, we have to go," Quatre said hurriedly.  He ran into his room and came back with a shirt half on, one shoe on, three in hand and a trench coat over his arm.  Anicka shoveled her 'cereal' into her mouth as fast as she could.  Quatre rushed over to her, handed her a hat and wrapped her in the coat.  "You'll be changing there anyway," was his excuse.  He put her shoes on her feet and carried her out to the car.

**Part 32**

"We're here for Doctor Sun," Quatre said to the clerk at the desk after a forty five-minute long drive in the car to the office.

"She's with a patient right now, I'll tell her you're here," the clerk told Quatre.  He proceeded to pick up the intercom phone and then said, "Doctor Sun, your ten-thirty is here, Doctor Sun – ten-thirty," he put down the phone, "She'll be here in a minute or two."

"Okay," Quatre said.  He walked away from the desk and sat down in the chair by Anicka.  "She's coming."

"Good.  I can't wait."  A nurse walked through the door.

"Anicka Estralla?  The doctor is ready."

"Here we go," she stated.  Quatre stood and helped her up, and they followed the nurse to a back room.

"Here, put this on and sit on the bed."  The nurse handed her a hospital gown and left the room.  Quatre busied himself by sitting on a wheelchair and doing wheelies on it.  Anicka took her clothes off and put the gown on, as the nurse had told her to.  She sat on the bed and watched Quatre's miserable attempts at balancing the chair on its back wheels until a fair-haired woman in a lab coat walked in.

"Hello, I'm Iria Sun, I'll be your doc… oh!"  She stopped short, for Quatre had fallen backwards in his chair and landed on the floor with a thump.  "Quatre?!"

"Iria!  Ouch," he stood up and hugged his older sister.

"What are you doing here, Quatre?"

"Your patient – she's my fiancé."

"Really?  Well…"

"Um, not to interrupt the family reunion, but can we commence with the doctorin', doc?" Anicka said jokingly.  Iria turned to her and smiled.

"No problem, Anicka.  Quatre, could you leave for a little while?  I'll see you later, I have a job to do!"

"Sure, see you later, Iria," Quatre said.  He kissed Anicka and left the room.

"Well, Anicka, how have you been feeling?" Iria asked, checking Anicka's eyes and ears.

"Today, I've been fine.  Yesterday, I just got back from the former Americas and slept most of the day.  But two days ago – I passed out at least twice and was beaten."

"Looks like it.  Can you tell me what happened?"

"Quatre and I were out in the woods for a trip.  These guys came and captured me and I was in a cell for a week.  They beat me, then Duo and Quatre came and got me out.  Then I came back here and Duo booked me a doctor's appointment.  I kind of needed one."

"I can see why.  Is there anything specific you want me to check out?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh!  Great.  I'll order a scan for you.  I'm a gynecologist, too, I'm pretty much certified for everything.  Anything else?"  She picked up a clipboard and a pen and jotted things down.

"I don't think so.  The baby's father, Iria.  He isn't Quatre.  He's from my colony.  He died after I left."

"I don't need to know.  I'm just the doctor."

"But I'd be telling you anyway, or you'd find out after it's born.  I might as well tell you now."

"Good point.  Anything else under your gown?"

"Yeah," she took off the dressing and laid it next to her.  "Are these bad?"

"Whoa!"  She was taken aback by the large amount of purple and blue marks on the woman's back and chest.  "What happened?"

"Those are from the cell.  When Duo escaped, the guard knocked me down and started kicking away.  Then I passed out."

"Did this guy kick you in the stomach?"

"Yeah.  But the baby kicked back after.  Whoever is down there is pretty feisty," she laughed and Iria laughed, too.

"I'll have to run some tests to see how much damage they made."  She scribbled on the chart again and picked up her stethoscope.  "Could you take a deep breath?"  She did.  "Was there anything else wrong after that, Anicka?  Other than passing out.  Any pain?"  She moved the stethoscope repeatedly.

"Yeah, my stomach hurt, so did my leg and wrist – but they were broken.  I've been pretty drowsy lately."

"You can put your gown back on, I'll order the tests and ultrasound.  Be back in a minute."

"Could you send Quatre back in?" she asked politely.

"Sure." Iria smiled and left the room.  A couple minutes later, Quatre entered and sat on the bed next to her.

"What did she say?"

"She's going to run some tests and see what happened.  We'll find out about the baby, too.  If it's going to be all right, and if I'm all right.  Tests and stuff."

"Good.  Did you tell her everything?"

"Yeah.  You know, I just thought of the first thing I'm going to do when we get home," she said thoughtfully, fingering through her hair.

"What?"

"Take a long bath."  As she finished the sentence, Iria walked in, followed by a nurse and a big machine with a monitor on it.

"Hello again, Anicka and Quatre.  I have the ultrasound machine, we can do that now.  Quatre, if you'll sit in that chair," she motioned to a chair in the corner, "and Anicka, lay down, please."  Anicka lay down on the bed and Iria prepared her for the ultrasound.  The machine screen turned white, then black with rough lines on it.  Quatre stood up, rushed over to Anicka and gripped her hand.  "There's the baby."

Anicka looked on with tear-filled eyes at the rough shape of her soon-to-be child.  "Oh my God…" she trailed off, squeezing Quatre's hand.

"Yeah," Quatre leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.  "Thanks, Iria.  How is it doing?"

"I can tell you both now, this baby is going to be a fighter.  From what Anicka told me and from the ultrasound, I can see it.  This baby is totally healthy.  Do you want a picture of it?  For the records?"

"Sure," Anicka breathed.  Iria punched a few buttons on the back of the machine, and a picture printed out from the side.  She took it off the printer and handed it to Quatre.  He smiled, and Iria turned the ultrasound off and took it off Anicka.  She pulled her shirt back down and sat up on the bed.  "Where to now, Iria?"

"I have to take you to the testing lab, since we can't do x-rays on you.  They could be harmful to the baby.  Why don't you get into the wheelchair, I'll clear a room."  She left.

"Look at this," Quatre said to Anicka.  He brought the picture over and sat by her.  She took it and he picked her up and placed her in the wheelchair.  He leaned over her shoulder and looked at the picture.  "We could put this on the fridge at home, don't you think?  The guys would love it."

"I know I do," Anicka answered, touching her stomach.  Iria came back in.

"The testing room is just down the hall.  Would you like to join us, Quatre?  It'll give us a chance to catch up," she said, sounding less like a doctor and more like a big sister.

"Sure.  Can I push the chair?" he asked.

"No problem."  The trio walk-wheeled down the hall, Iria and Quatre exchanging stories from their experiences in the past years.  Anicka put her own two cents in when it came to how they had met.  They got to the room and the technician took over, laying Anicka under the machine with a heavy pad protecting the baby from the harmful rays.  Iria and Quatre went to a room with a thick window looking in at Anicka.  She turned her head to look at them; he smiled and blew a kiss.  She caught it and smiled back.  Iria pressed a button and Anicka could hear her speak.  "We've got to stay back here when the machine's going, but we'll be back out when you're done."

"All right."  The technician positioned Anicka under the lens and walked back to take the picture.  They repeated that several times and the technician told her to get back into the wheelchair while she got the pictures developed.  Iria and Quatre left the back room and Anicka tried her hardest to sit up.  Quatre lifted her gently back into the chair.  "Time to find out what's been going on down there lately."

"I'll take you to the room and find the resident orthopedics doctor.  Can you get her back all right?"

"I'll find it."  He started wheeling the chair down the hallway and Iria went back the other way.  He found the room, brought her in and sat down.

"Quatre, when's your birthday?" she inquired, tipping her head slightly and staring right at him.

"Next month, the seventeenth, I'll be eighteen.  Why?"

"Just wondering.  Mine's in two months," she paused, "I've been thinking, what are we going to do when the baby's born?  Our rooms are kinda too small for two people, let alone three.  They are in the end of the hall, could we maybe tear out the wall in between them or something?"

"Why don't we talk about it when we can do something about it, Ani?  You're in pretty bad shape."

"Yeah.  Okay," she twirled her still-dirty hair.  "Quatre…" she whined, "I need a bath."

"That we can take care of.  But not here.  Later.  At home."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."  He leaned in and kissed her in a way he never had before.  They leaned away right before Iria came back in.

"Anicka, we'll put your wrist and leg in splints so you can take them off to bathe.  You're right, they were broken, but your bone structure is remarkable to say the least.  They healed up faster than I could have ever thought.  You still have some slight cracks in your bones, but they should heal with the help of the splints," she took Anicka's arm and put a blue splint on it.  "Does that hurt?"

"No, feels fine," she said, twisting her arm a couple times.  Anicka lifted up her leg as best she could and Iria put a splint on it.

"How about that?"

"Nope, still doesn't hurt.  Can I walk on it?"

"I wouldn't suggest that for a day or so.  Work your way into it.  You should probably have someone help you around for a couple days."

"You can count on me," Quatre said in a corny voice, saluting his sister with three fingers, making them all laugh a little.

"I knew I could.  I'll show you how to get to the door, and I'll see you around?"

"Of course!  I'll have to come back for baby appointments."

"Call the receptionist for those, okay?"

"No problem," Quatre answered, lifting Anicka off the table and setting her in the chair.  They walked out to the lobby and Quatre carried Anicka out to the car.  They sat in silence, still taking in all that had happened in the last two weeks.  Anicka snickered.

"What's so funny?" Quatre asked.

"You know why all of this happened."

"All of what?"

"The last few weeks.  Don't you remember why we left, originally?"

"No…"

"Quatre, we were going to get married.  And then…"

"Then let's go now."

"NOW?"

"Sure.  I'm up for it."

"Not now.  Too much has been going on… I need to let it sink in.  And I need a bath.  I feel kind of dirty."

"Okay, fine."  They were quiet the rest of the drive.

**Part 33**

"We're back again," Quatre said, carrying Anicka into the house once more.  He carried her to her room.  "Why don't you get ready for a bath.  I'll go run the water."

"Okay."  She undressed and put on an old robe from her bag.  She took out a brush and started to brush her matted, dirty, unwashed, curly brown locks.  

Quatre walked in, stared at her and smiled.  "You look so beautiful."

"What are you talking about?  I look like I've been in a hole for a week."

"No, you look so cute – I mean, in the robe, doing your hair.  Are you ready?"

"Yeah.  What time is it?"

"About noon."

"Seriously?  No wonder we're so hungry."

"I'm not hungry," he said, lifting her up.

"Yeah, but Baby is, and that makes me hungry."  They left the room.

"Well, do you want anything right now?" he asked, standing her up next to the towel rack.  "Hold that," he said, untying her robe.

"Thanks, but, Quatre, you don't have to do this, I can get into the tub by myself." She balanced on one leg and took off her wrist splint.

"But you're hurt," he stated in a devious tone of voice.  He pulled the robe off her shoulders and moved in front of her.  "And I want to help you."

"But I… I'm all dirty…" she trailed off, seeing in his eyes that he wasn't listening and realizing now that she was naked.  "I… I can't…" she stopped, interrupted by his lips pressed up against hers.

"Yes, you can," he picked her up by her armpits and set her in the water.

She sighed and closed her eyes as she immersed herself in the hot water and bubbles.  "Lock the door…"

Suddenly, he closed the curtains.  She sat in the warm water and could feel the grime coming off her body.  "What are you doing?"

"Joining you."

"No, no, Quatre…"  But it was too late.  He had pulled the curtain away again and stepped gingerly into the giant bathtub next to her.

"I need a bath, too, you know.  Not like I did anything while you were gone."

"What do you mean?" she asked, leaning on his shoulder.

"I was a wreck.  Even ask Duo.  Didn't even change clothes."

"Quatre…"

"I love you, Anicka.  I couldn't stand it… it's like…"

"Like you found a piece of yourself you never thought you lost?"

"Yes… how did you know?"

"Because I feel the same way.  I felt like I was going crazy… like I was in a box that kept getting smaller… I couldn't breathe… I just…" she broke down, crying on his shoulder.


	6. Book 6

**Book 6**

****

**Part 34**

Three months sifted by like flour through a colander, despite several changes.  Anicka's idea to expand the back bedrooms became a reality involving Gundam pilots with sledgehammers.  A very scary thought, yes, but also quite productive.  The room was refurbished to harbor Anicka, Quatre and the some-day baby.  Of course, the child grew substantially as well.  Anicka was now quite pregnant.  The room was done just in time for Quatre's birthday.

Meanwhile, in the lives of the other pilots, Wufei and Trowa grew to be good friends, although Trowa still didn't like Anicka much.  Hilde learned all the details about Anicka, Quatre, Catalonia and Duo's role in the whole lurid plot.  She decided to stay in the safe house on one condition – that she stayed with Duo.  That single condition, of course, was graciously accepted.  And as for Heero… The rumors around the Preventers that Hilde had spoken of soon traveled to ESUN headquarters – and to Relena Dorlain Peacecraft.  She went to the safe house to "investigate" and soon after moved in with Heero, who insisted that she stayed in his room.  The former Queen accepted the offer and was seen walking around the house the next morning in a loose-fitting green tank top.  The guys congratulated Heero and the girls just smiled knowingly.

Quatre, though preoccupied with his pregnant fiancé and their upcoming wedding, did find time to enroll the pilots at Saint Gabriel's Institute in the Sank Kingdom.  He made some other plans as well and life went on as usual – well, as usual as a Gundam pilot's life can be.

**Part 35**

 "Anicka, wake up, we have class starting today."  The groggy woman opened her sleep-filled eyes to see a blurred vision of Quatre sitting over her.

"Five more minutes," she half-responded.

"You said that five minutes ago."

"No, I didn't."  What?  I wasn't awake then?!

"Yes, you did.  Now get up."  She was about to say no again, when she could feel him shift his weight and stand up.

"Okay, I'm up."  She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position and glanced at the clock.  Six o'clock!  Holy hell in a handbag!  Nevertheless, school started at seven and they still had to drive the whole crew there, so she had better get her butt out of bed.  Standing up, she saw that Quatre already had his uniform pants on and was putting on his shirt.  With much trouble, she got dressed in the specially made, school issue maroon dress.  Thank God, she found a maternity place!

"How do I look?  Will I blend in?"  She stood in front of him and turned from side to side.

"Ani, you look great and you'll blend in just about as much as a six-and-a-half-months pregnant woman can.  We have to go since it's such a long drive.  You know," he continued, holding the door open as Anicka walked out into the hall, "we're lucky to be able to live out here and not in the dorms.  But we can't be late."

So he and Anicka walked out to the kitchen and grabbed a box of breakfast bars for the road.  Then they all headed out to the convoy parked in the hangar.  Quatre, Anicka, Duo and Hilde rode in Quatre's green Mercedes and the others took the rusty station wagon.

**Part 36**

The crew arrived at the school a little before the first class began.  They parked in special VIP parking spaces that Relena had saved for them, or rather, according to Anicka, "shottied" for them.  They walked into the school and went their separate ways after deciding to meet back at the cars ten minutes after the last class ended.  Anicka and Quatre waved, locked the doors of the Mercedes and walked through the doors into the ever-moving sea of people inside the school.  The crowd started to part, each student ready for the day ahead.  Anicka, gripping Quatre's hand, scanned the students, smiling, until one face caught her eye.  Her smile turned to an ear-to-ear grin as she pulled Quatre through the crowd.

"Evan!"  she shouted at a tall boy.

"Huh?" he turned to the sound of her voice, "Anik!"  She dropped Quatre's hand and threw her arms around the boy.  "Oh my god!  What are you doing here?  I thought you…"

"There's a lot you don't know," she looked down at her growing middle and then over at Quatre.

"Who's this?" Evan and Quatre asked in unison.

"Quatre, Evan.  Evan, Quatre."  The two uneasily shook hands.  Evan stood facing Anicka and Quatre moved protectively next to her.

"How do you two know each other?" Quatre inquired.

"Evan was Gavin's best friend and one of mine, too.  He left a little after the war started."

"I came here to school.  My parents are huge pacifists, so we moved to Earth.  And you and him and…" he gestured at her stomach, "is whose?"

"Gavin's," she paused, "You heard?"

"About what?"

"The… explosion."

"Yeah," he looked reverently at the floor.

"I saw it, when I was leaving and it happened.  Took a day for me to recover."

"You're okay now, right?"

"Yeah, you?"

"It's been almost four months.  Anything interesting happen?"

"You have no idea," her hands looped beside her and found Quatre's.  Just then, a bell rang.

"One minute to homeroom, little duck," Evan said with a sad note in his voice.  "Who do you have?"

Anicka looked at Quatre.  "Loom, we have Loom," he answered.

"Cool!  So do I!  We can talk more there," Evan answered, "Follow me."  The trio walked down the hall, Evan leading Anicka and Quatre behind, holding hands.  They arrived in the classroom to see Duo and Wufei in the aisle away from the door.  Duo was amusing himself with poking Wufei in the back of the head with a pencil and grinning his big dopey grin.

"Hey, where have you been?" Duo yelled over the din of the classroom.

"The hall," Quatre and Anicka said at the same time.

"I'm Evan," he said in anticipation of their next question.  "An old friend of Anicka's."  He took the empty seat near them, while Quatre and Anicka took the two seats next to Duo and Wufei.  Anicka introduced Evan to the others.  They critically examined the tall boy with his unruly, curly, dirty blonde hair and laid-back speech.  They accepted him simply as Anicka's old, old friend and classmate.  She retold the story of their meeting in the hallway, and told everyone that he had been Gavin's friend and moved to the Sank Kingdom after the war started.  She also recounted the story of how she is now the sole pregnant Gundam pilot and ex-captive of the illustrious Catalonia.  Evan stared blankly at her for a second.

"Wait a minute.  You mean to say that I'm sitting in the presence of three-"

"Shhh!" Wufei prompted, noticing the glares as Evan's voice escalated.

"- Gundam pilots?!" he continued, whispering.

"Four," Anicka and Quatre simultaneously reminded him.

"Right, umm…" an awkward silence followed, then was interrupted as their teacher, Mr. Loom, walked into the room.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the beginning of the term.  For those of you who haven't noticed, we have," he paused and re-checked the attendance sheet, "four new students in our homeroom today.  Wufei Chang, Anicka Estralla, Duo Maxwell and Quatre Winner."  The four stood as their names were called, and murmurs went through the class at the sound of a Winner and the sight of the pregnant woman.  "All right, class, on with the announcements.  Today, we have…" the teacher droned on about the school's proceedings and some current events while Evan wrote a note and passed it to Anicka.

_Anicka – I can't believe we're in the same school.  I thought you were gone for sure in that explosion.  I really missed you.  I felt really alone here because no one else really knew anyone that lived there.  Really, Anik, it was like losing a sister when I thought you had died.  It's terrible about Gavin and your family.  I can almost sympathize the whole Gavin thing, but not the way you do.  He was my best friend, too, but you loved him._

_I'm glad you found the Gundam pilots.  They're a great group, from what I've heard.  And that Quatre!  Congrads, Anik, and I really mean it.  I hope I'm invited to the wedding.  Well, not much else to say.  I'll talk to you later, okay? – Evan_

She looked up at her oldest friend and smiled.  She had missed him immensely, too, when he had left the colony years ago.  It was more than just refreshing to see him again, it was relaxing and different and so many other joyful, loving feelings.  She couldn't help but to let them out of her system by smiling and grinning and acting downright bubbly.  She looked back over at her fiancé.  He was staring right back at her.  "I love you," she whispered, and he mouthed it back to her.

After class, Anicka stood up with difficulty and looked straight at Evan.  "Duck," she said simply.

He looked up from his stack of books and over to her.  "Yeah?"

"What are you doing the weekend after next?"

His eyes became unfocused and then he looked back at her.  "Nothing, why?"

"Keep it open, you've got a wedding to go to.  You'll need a nice suit, too."  She smiled and looped her arm through Quatre's and walked out of the room.

The day went on much as a school day is wont to do.  Anicka went to all four of her classes as if she had been doing so for years and years.  She loved all of her classes and teachers almost immediately.  Philosophy, Calculus, World Literature and World Wars were her classes in that order.  She knew people in every class, and those she didn't know she met on the first day.  World Wars was very interesting because the lesson plan included the wars that the Gundams had fought in.  Duo had already volunteered to speak at it.  She walked to the Mercedes after all of her classes were over and said out loud, "This is going to be a fun term."

**Part 37**

Two weeks passed quickly.  It was now the big day of their wedding.  It was a sunny, cloudless day and it wasn't too hot or too cold.  And Quatre had spared no expense.  It was supposed to be a simple ceremony with only a few people invited.  But that was before the press got hold of the story.  Two news teams were allowed to cover the "event" – the most eligible bachelor on the earth and colonies, the heir to the Winner empire, getting married.  It was to be the biggest news story of the night.

Flowers were everywhere.  Anicka had decided that the three main colors would be white, blue and yellow.  All of the flowers followed that theme – they were arranged carefully, roses with roses, lilies with lilies and all colors mixed together.  All of the wedding party's garments followed the same color scheme.  Anicka had purchased a medium blue dress.  It wasn't too dark or too light.  It was perfect.  She didn't want a white one, being seven months pregnant, for fear of looking like an iceberg.  Quatre, however, bought a white tuxedo with a powder blue shirt.  The wedding party was very small - only Anicka, Quatre, Duo the Best Man, Heero the Groomsman, Hilde the Maid of Honor and Relena the Bridesmaid.  The 'Winners-to-be,' as they had been titled, thought it would be cute to have only couples in the wedding party.  They all were dressed to fit the scheme as well.  The bridesmaids wore simple, straight; light blue dresses while the groomsmen wore blue tuxedos with white shirts and light blue vests.  Duo and Hilde had the added bonus of a couple of small yellow flowers pinned up in their hair.  Before the actual wedding, however, everyone was nervous.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Anicka said simply to Relena and Hilde as they adorned her brown, curly hair with an abundance of yellow flowers.  The girls had claimed the huge back bedroom as the bride's dressing room before the guys could have even put up a fight for it.

Hilde smiled.  "I can.  You love him, Anik, and after that there's no contest.  You know, I'm looking forward to the day when I'll be able to be where you are right now."

"Me, too," added Relena.

"You know what would be fun?  If you two had a joint wedding ceremony," Anicka said, knowing that Heero and Duo were the best of friends.  The idea must have struck true with her friends because they looked at each other and smiled.  

"Now all we need is for a couple certain Gundam pilots to ask us," Relena stated, sounding almost downtrodden.

"They will.  They just need to get over the jitters they're feeling right now with everything that's been happening here," Hilde said hopefully, looking at the door to the hallway.

Meanwhile, three doors down, the three main men were having a similar conversation.

"I don't know why I'm doing this," Quatre said simply to Duo and Heero.  He ran his comb through his hair a couple more times.  "I mean, I love her, really I do, but how am I going to do this?  With the baby and the Corporation and everythi-" He was cut off when Duo promptly put a hand over his mouth.

"Quatre, do you love Anicka?" Duo asked.

"Well, yes but-"

"No buts.  You love her and that's all you should be thinking about right now.  You're about to pledge your life to her and it will all turn out right.  No worries, Quat," he leaned back on the wall in the bathroom - The bathroom they had been sent to after the girls took the back bedroom.

Heero looked at the two almost mirthfully.  He knew what they were going through as his hand danced in his pocket around a small box.

"So, Heero, how do I look?" Quatre asked, turning from the mirror to face his friend.

"Fine, Quatre, just fine," and he resumed his stoic composure and stared off into space.

"Heero, you seem spacey today, what's up?" Duo asked, noticing that his fellow pilot was a little more disconnected than usual.

"Just thinking."

"About what?" Quatre asked, also noticing the attitude change, but also that Heero had his hand in his pocket.

"Relena.  I'm thinking about Relena," he said, as if to blow them off.

"You're going to pop the question, aren't you?" Duo asked point blank.

Heero looked at him in astonishment.  "How did you guess?"

Duo pulled a small purple box from his pocket.  "Because I was thinking the same thing," he grinned.  "You know, if we plan this right, Heero, we could have both weddings at the same time."

A knock sounded on the door to the girl's room.  Anicka looked up from her vanity table at it.  "Come in as long as you're not Quatre," she said.

Evan walked in, clad in a charcoal colored tuxedo.  "And what if I was, little duck?  What if I was?"

She smiled and gave her old friend a hug.  "Well, you're not so I guess that doesn't matter, now, does it?"  She released her hold on him and backed away a few steps.

"All right, let me look at you.  Turn around," he waved his finger in a circle.  She rolled her eyes and turned around slowly.  When she was back facing him, he said, "You look great.  Could use a little work on that side profile, though, you're looking a little soggy around the midsection."  He laughed.

"You know what, Evan Lee Ambrosia?  If I weren't seven months pregnant right now I'd be forced to beat you to a pulp."  She poked him a couple times in the chest to prove her point.  Hilde and Relena looked on, smiling.

"And if this weren't the day of your wedding, I'd be forced to kiss you because you look so great," he grinned.

"Liar, I look like a blueberry," she stated, turning towards the mirror.

"But a cute blueberry," he countered, hugging her.  "You do look good, Anik.  No contest there.  You'll have a great wedding."  He looked down at her and kissed her cheek.  "But you have to promise to save me a dance."

"Of course," she beamed up at him.  "Thank you so much for being here, Evan.  When we started planning for the wedding I wanted to cry because I didn't have anyone to give me away.  With my dad and brother and Gavin gone and everything...  I really owe you, duck.  I do."

Hilde, who had been standing off to the side watching the whole exchange, said finally, "That's it.  What is it with the whole 'duck' and 'little duck' thing?"

Evan and Anicka looked at Hilde, then at each other, then back to Hilde and burst out laughing.  "It's kind of a long story," Evan said.

"But the short version is that I was a big klutz in my youth," Evan, Hilde and Relena scoffed, "Okay, I AM a big klutz and he was always telling me to duck.  And after a while, Gavin gave us both these rubber duckies - a little one for me and a big one for Ev here.  And it just became a nickname we used all of the time."

"You left out the part about the-" Evan started, but was promptly cut off by Anicka.

"Don't go down that road, duck," Anicka said sharply, waving her hand.  She smiled at the girls who looked on in confusion.  "You don't want to know.  And I'm not telling, either."

"You know, that would be quite interesting," Quatre stated, "having both of your weddings at the same time.  I'm sure the girls would have a field day with that one."

"You know they would, Quat," Duo said.  He then resumed trying to put his yellow carnation corsage on his tux.  Confident that he had it right this time, he stuck the pin in.  The flower flipped upside-down as soon as he let go.  He sighed the sigh of the defeated.  "I'll just have Hilde do it when you're ready."

Heero sighed the sigh of those in the presence of idiots and shook his head.  "You can defeat mobile dolls one-handed, but you can't seem to conquer a flower."

Duo grinned.  "Maybe I'm just giving up because I want Hilde to do it.  Maybe I have a plan of some sort now, Heero.  What do you think about that?"

"What kind of twisted plan are you trying to cook up now?" Quatre asked, now trying to trounce his own yellow rose.

"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?"  At precisely that moment, there was a knock at the door.  "Come in," Duo said, smiling at the others and glad for the new distraction from his own life.

Iria opened the door and looked at her little brother all decked out to get married.  "Hey, there, Quatre.  Just checking in to see how you're doing.  I mean, if you're all ready for your wedding and everything."

Quatre looked up at his sister and smiled.  "I'm all dressed, if that's what you mean.  But I'm still not all ready up here," he stated, pointing to his head.

"You never will be, Quatre, you never will be.  It's a feeling you'll always have."

"I'm happy you're here, Iria.  I'm glad Duo found you all those months ago.  My wedding would have really been a wash if I didn't have a family member give me away, knowing MY family."

"Quatre, you realize all of your sisters were invited, right?"  Heero asked.

"Yes, Heero, I know.  You tracked them all down on your precious laptop and sent them all invitations.  Thank you.  It's good to know that Anicka will have a family again..." he sighed.

"See, you should be marrying her.  She's all you can think about.  Everything you do is for her.  And I'll bet she thinks the same.  That's what love is, Quat," Duo said, thinking about his raven-haired Hilde.  "That's what love is."

"All right, Duo, you have to tell us your plan," Quatre posed, prodding into Duo's business once again.

"Umm... Iria?  You look great and everything in your yellow dress.  Really, it matches your hair and everything.  Hair is great, too, love the blue flowers.  But could you leave?  I have to tell the guys something," Duo said, scratching the back of his head and trying to be very polite.

"I'll leave, thank you for asking, Duo.  I was just going to check on how the girls were doing anyway."  She smiled and left the room.

"As you may have figured out, I'm asking Hilde to marry me today," Duo whispered to them after Iria shut the door.  He motioned for them to come closer to him and murmured, "And I want to surprise her so I'm not telling anyone."  He grinned.

Heero glared at him.  "Angry as I am, Duo, and as tempted as I am to break every bone in your body, I won't.  You need to stay looking good if she's ever to say yes."

"Why thank you for that lovely boost to my self esteem, Mr. Yuy," he looked at his watch.  "Quatre, we don't have much more time to get ready, fifteen minutes tops."

"About twenty minutes, Ani," Hilde said, looking up from her watch.  "Do you have everything?"

"Have everything?  What do I need?" Anicka asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Relena stared in amazement.  "_Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a penny in your shoe._"

Anicka looked at her clothes.  "I have the blue.  My dress.  The something new is my necklace," she fingered a small silver cross on a silver chain, "Evan gave it to me last week.  Something old, something old... hmm... What about an OLD penny in my shoe?  I can do that, right?"  She rushed over to her dresser and picked up a red, puffy box that looked like a pillow.  She opened it and pulled out a copper penny.  "From the old United States of America, look!" she showed her friends.  "Twenty-first century, too.  That'll count as old, right?  Now I just need to borrow something."

The trio looked around the room and there was a knock at the door again.  "Come in if you're not Quatre," Hilde called.

Iria entered.  "How is everything going in here?"

"Just looking for the 'something borrowed,'" Hilde said, walking over to Quatre's dresser.

"Aren't you wearing Relena's shoes?" Iria asked, pointing at the simple blue slippers on Anicka's feet.

"YES!" she exclaimed, embracing Relena and Iria in one massive hug.  She looked up and saw Evan standing off by the door, as if ready to leave.  "Go and see how our boys are doing, Evan."

Evan smiled at the girls and left the room.  He absently looked into the bedrooms as he walked down the hall and saw Trowa sitting in his room, clad in a simple grey suit.  "Hello there," he said simply, addressing the boy he had yet to meet.  "You look lonely.  Can I come in?"

Trowa looked up at the tall Evan.  "Sure."

Evan entered and sat in the unadorned chair in Trowa's plain room.  "Ready for the wedding?" he asked.  "The name's Evan by the way."

"Trowa," he offered his hand.  "Who are you?"

"I'm an old friend of Anicka's.  You?"

"Old friend of Quatre's.  I'm one of the Gundam pilots."

"Really?  How come I haven't seen you around here lately?"  Evan had seen the pilots in classes and going to and from the house, but he had never seen Trowa.

"I had kind of a fallout with Quatre and Anicka about four months ago.  Since then, we've barely spoken."

"Well that's just not right!" Evan exclaimed.  He hadn't heard the whole story.  He had no idea that Trowa had painfully lost his love.  And he had no idea that his childhood sweetheart had taken it away.  "I'm sure they understand.  Are you coming to the wedding?"

"Maybe.  If I do, I'll sit in the back."

"That's good.  See you later, I guess," Evan said.  He stood, waved and left the room.  He walked down the hall and came to the door of the bathroom, upon which a piece of scrap paper had been taped.  It proclaimed "Groom Room" in Duo's scrawl.  He knocked and the door opened a crack.  Duo's face popped out and motioned for Evan to enter.  Evan tugged on the door and shimmied inside to where the men had gathered.  "Hello, all," he said, giving a little wave.  They all greeted him in their own little ways.  

Quatre, who had been sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, stood.  "Time for the big-brother type talk, huh, Evan?" he asked, smiling.

"I guess, if you could call it that," he smiled at the thought.  He knew Anicka's actual brother - he was a really, really nice person, unless it came to his little sister.  And then, like an animal backed into a corner, he was vicious.  "But not as harsh as Rush."

"Rush..." Quatre asked with an inquiring undertone.

"Her older brother.  We always called him Rush at school."

"Right." Quatre nodded.  He had temporarily forgotten about what his wife-to-be had lost and instead was focusing on what she was to gain.

"I love Anicka, Quatre.  I have loved her for a long time.  She's a baby sister to me.  She is carrying my best friend's child.  And those are things I can't let go of, and I can't let them get hurt either.  If Anicka ever tells me that you have hurt her in any way, I will kill you in any way I can - Gundam or no Gundam."  Evan's voice had taken on a glacial quality and his eyes were focused and cold.  He shook his head from side to side and returned to his normal, jovial personality.  He smiled.  "How was that?"

Quatre had been taken aback.  He simply stared back at Evan and nodded.  "That... that was good.  I got the point."

Evan smiled sheepishly.  "Sorry if I scared you.  I guess that was more like Rush's style there.  He was like that with the little duck - he scared the crap out of any guy who even came close to hurting her.  Gavin was the only one who really stood up to him, though," Evan sighed in thought of his friends.  "I really miss them."

Quatre watched the change in his new friend with interest.  "I'm sure you're not alone, Evan.  Anicka misses them, too."

"Well, I hope so!  She's their blood now, both of them.  Those three were my greatest friends in the world.  I guess I'll talk to her later... much later... like maybe in a month or so?"

"Just don't freak her out tonight or right before the baby is born.  I'd have to come after you."

"No worries, Quatre."  He listened.  The small band of string instruments had gone into its preparation number.

"We have to get going soon, guys," Duo said pointedly.  "Two minutes till show time."

"Two minutes," Relena stated, looking over at the alarm clock by Anicka and Quatre's bed.

"Two minutes," Anicka repeated in thought, "and then I'm getting married."  She looked back on the past four months she spent with Quatre.  Had it only been four months?  It seemed like so much more.  She stood on her now fully healed leg.  It was due to Quatre that she was now as healthy as a horse - well, as healthy as a pregnant horse.  She laughed at the idea.  There was her health, and the fact that he was so willing to be a father.  Helpful didn't even begin to describe his attitude towards the situation.  He had welcomed it with open arms.  And he was about to be her husband.  She walked over to the door and peeped out, being careful about not being seen, and watched as the men got themselves into position for the procession.  She saw Evan approaching and quickly shut the door.  He came and knocked, and, as before, the girls answered with, "Come in if you're not Quatre."

He entered the room and shooed Iria, Relena and Hilde out of the room to get to their places.  They each wished Anicka good luck in their own fashion, whether by hug or by a last few words of advice, and went to meet the men.  Anicka watched as Hilde walked up to Duo.  Duo put his hand behind his head and said something to her.  She shook her head and helped him with his corsage, a small grin playing on her features.  Hilde gave Duo a tiny kiss on the cheek and looped her arm through his.  Heero took Relena's arm and stood in front of Duo.  Iria and Quatre were in the back of the whole configuration.  The procession started.

Evan stood by Anicka's side as she watched her friends leave the house in their little lines.  The music she had chosen had begun - Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D," her favorite classical song.  As soon as the procession was out of sight, she left the back room and felt an air of importance around her as she became situated to walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Anicka Winner.

**Part 38**

Everything was perfect.  Anicka linked her arm with Evan's and they walked down the aisle at the climax of the song.  The assemblage stood as they saw the bride and her escort step into the sunshine.  Anicka walked slowly and Evan followed her lead.  She looked around the small crowd gathered - at her new classmates, at her soon-to-be sister-in-laws and even at the news photographers.  They reached the first row of chairs and Evan stopped her.  He wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug that only a brother could give.  He grabbed her shoulders and looked down at her face.  "Love you, Anik.  Good luck."  He gave her hand to Quatre.  "Take good care of this little duck for me, Quatre."  He smiled at the couple and turned to sit.  Anicka looked from Quatre's earnest eyes to Hilde.  Hilde handed her the bouquet of white roses and smiled.  

The congregation sat down with a low rustle.  The minister, Wufei, started the ceremony.  "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Quatre Raberba Winner and Anicka Estralla in holy matrimony.  If there are any who oppose this union, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Trowa, in the back of the gathering, bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.  It was all he could do to stop himself from speaking.  He would rather 'forever hold his peace' than have five Gundam pilots out to destroy him.

Wufei smiled down at Anicka and Quatre.  "The couple has chosen to write their own vows.  Anicka?"

Anicka squeezed Quatre's hands.  Hilde stepped over, slipped a simple piece of paper in her hand, and stepped back.  Anicka opened the humble scrap of paper and read.  "I will love you forever.  From now until the day the world passes into nothing, I am yours.  In word, flesh and spirit, I belong to you.  Through everything - the bleak and the blacker, the thick and the thin, life and death...  My heart is in your hands.  I love you, Quatre Raberba Winner."

Quatre simply nodded and wiped the tears from her face.  He took the scrap and tucked it into his pocket.  He took her hands, knelt before her and spoke.  "It is not so much that you are to me and I am to you, we are to each other and part of one whole.  I will continue to love you to the farthest reaches of forever and beyond.  I love you beyond body, spirit and soul, Anicka Estralla."  He stood and solely watched Anicka's face.

Wufei again spoke.  "Now for the exchanging of the wedding bands."  He motioned to Duo.  Duo stepped up to Wufei, handed him the two simple, white gold bands and stepped back down.  Wufei handed the first ring to Anicka.  "With this ring..." he started.

Anicka poised it to slip onto Quatre's left ring finger.  "With this ring..."

"...I thee wed."  He finished.

"...I thee wed."  She slid the ring onto his finger and squeezed his hand.

Wufei turned to Quatre and handed him the second ring, which was on a chain.  "With this ring..." he started again.

"With this ring..." Quatre began, holding the chain over her head.  She looked up at it.

"...I thee wed."  Wufei finished a second time.

"...I thee wed."  Quatre placed the chain around her neck, being extra careful not to get it stuck in her hair.  He let his hands fall naturally down her sides and rested them simply on her hips.  He smiled and touched his left hand to her belly.  He felt the baby kick and Anicka moved her left hand to meet his.  Their eyes went to the baby and then to each other.

Wufei put his hand on their shoulders.  They looked up at him again.  Duo and Hilde stepped forward, each with a small, lighted candle.  Anicka took hers, a blue one, from Hilde and Quatre took a yellow one from Duo.  Wufei turned to reveal a large white candle behind him in the center of a candelabrum.  No words were spoken as they lit the white candle with the two small flames of their own.  They placed the small candles to either side of the white one and turned back to the congregation, hand in hand.  "For the first time," Wufei stated, "I have the pleasure of announcing Mr. and Mrs. Quatre Raberba Winner."  He looked at Quatre.  "You may kiss the bride."  Quatre looked at Anicka with pure love in his eyes and transported that love to her through the kiss.  The crowd clapped.  Anicka and Quatre processed to the car convoy, followed by Duo and Hilde, Heero and Relena.

**Part 39**

_When the world is cold, and I need a friend to hold_

_You give me love, you give me love_

_And when my hope is gone, And I feel I can't go on_

_You pick me up_

_You give me love, you give me love_

"You Give Me Love" - Faith Hill

Anicka and Quatre climbed into the white stretch limo and seated themselves comfortably.  Duo, Hilde, Heero and Relena had a separate blue limo.  Other cars followed the wedding party to the hall where the reception was to take place.

The Winners walked into the hall arm-in-arm, smiling abundantly.  They sat at the head table, joined closely by the wedding party, Wufei, Iria and Evan.  The guests soon came, filing into the hall.  When everyone was seated and subdued, Duo clanged his fork to his glass and stood.

"Well, that was quite a show, wasn't it?" Duo said with a little smirk, eliciting a little laugh from the guests and groans from the head table.  "Quatre, I've known you for a little over three years now.  You've always been the practical one, the one who was always bringing us back to reality.  You know what, I don't think any of us thought you'd be the first one to get married.  I've just thought you'd go to work for your family's corporation.  But here we are today.  Congratulations, bud.

"Anicka, the first day I met you, I thought you were too nice and there had to be something wrong with you.  But as I got to know you, I found out that being nice all of the time is part of your nature.  I'm happy to say we've become pretty good friends in the past few months.

"I'm very happy for both of you.  In fact, I do hope to have that kind of happiness in my life."  He turned his gaze to Hilde and smiled.  Then he looked at Quatre.  Quatre shook his head and gave him a cool gesture, finally seeing Duo's intentions.  "Hilde, I would be honored if you would be the one to give that to me.  I want to be as happy as Quatre and Anicka."

Hilde looked up at him and grinned.  She leapt from her chair and hugged him.  "Of course I will!"

Anicka whispered in Quatre's ear over the cheers and applause of the guests.  "You totally planned this, didn't you?"

He looked at her and smiled.  "I had a feeling that it would happen anyway," he looked over at Heero and Relena.  Heero had a smug, almost angry look on his face and Relena had traces of tears.  He chuckled.  "Look at the rest of the wedding party."

Anicka peeked over at them and couldn't stifle a little laugh.  She looked at her husband with a knowing smile on her face.  The smile grew when she saw the caterers bringing in carts full of dinner plates.

The head table was served first with the heaping portions of steak, honey glazed vegetables and angel hair pasta.  Anicka closed her eyes in gratitude.  She silently thanked her father, mother, brother and Gavin for giving her this life.  She thanked God for Quatre, for her quick recovery after the death of everything she knew and for her new beginning.  She opened her eyes and started to eat.  Quatre looked at her, his thoughts on much the same track as hers.  He was incredibly grateful for his new life.  He was looking forward to spending the rest of his life with the woman sitting next to him - his wife.  His wife.  He smiled the smile that would stay on his face the rest of the night.

Duo sat at the table with Hilde next to him and an idea came to him.  He remembered other weddings and a tricky little wedding gimmick.  He tapped his fork to his glass again, and the guests and party, save Quatre and Anicka, joined in.  The Winners smiled and looked at Duo.  They kissed and everyone cheered.  During the course of the dinner, various people continued the little gimmick and never tired of it.  

**Part 40**

_And I'm glad I didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go_

_Our lives were better left to chance_

_I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss_

_The dance_

_- Garth Brooks, "The Dance"_

Dinner went on in that fashion.  The small band came and played some classical pieces until the end of dinner, at which point the dancing started.  The clarinet player put her instrument away and walked over to the DJ equipment.  She picked up the microphone and said a simple introduction and played a few songs.  Quatre and Anicka sat quietly and watched the guests all start dancing.  The wedding party paired off and Evan took Iria by the arm and danced with her.  There was a break in the music and the DJ invited Quatre and Anicka down to the floor for their first dance as man and wife.  Quatre stood and helped his pregnant wife to her feet.  They walked gracefully from the platform to the dance floor and placed themselves in the middle of it.  The song began - a trio.  The duet of strong male voices started out while Quatre proved that his worth as a pilot was matched by his worth as a dancer.  Anicka listened to the song attentively, finding that the lyrics fit her life almost perfectly.

_Sometimes it's hard, you don't want to look over your shoulder_

_Because you don't want to remember where you've been_

_And they're'll come a time you'll die, if you could only hold her_

_I know that's where I am_

_So listen with all your heart_

_Hold it inside forever _

_You may find all your dreams have already come true_

_Look inside and find the part that's leading you_

_Cuz that's the beat of the heart_

_Sometimes you'll drown it out with all your rage and thunder_

_Sometimes you'll drown it out with all your tears_

_They'll come a time when you'll hear it and you'll wonder_

_Where in the world have I been_

_Listen with all your heart_

_Hold it inside forever _

_You may find all your dreams have already come true_

_Look inside and find the part that's leading you_

_That's the beat of the heart_

_No one can tell you how to get there_

_It's the road you take all by yourself_

_Listen with all your heart_

_Hold it inside forever _

_You may find all your dreams have already come true_

_Look inside and find the part that's leading you_

_That's the beat of... _

_(oh, it's the sweetest sound)_

_That's the beat of the heart_

The song ended and Anicka and Quatre looked at each other with tears in their eyes.  The song had really hit home with both of them.  Then the music took a turn.  Quatre changed his dancing style accordingly and swing danced like a professional.  The song had a fast tempo and went by quickly.  Afterwards, the DJ stopped again to speak.  "For the next couple songs, we're having a Dollar Dance.  Sorry, Winners, but you'll be split up for this one.  First, Duo, you're going to dance with Anicka and Hilde's going to dance with Quatre.  Guests who want to participate can start a couple of lines.  After a little bit, Duo and Hilde, I want you to go to the fronts of the lines.  Everybody who's in the lines, give either Duo or Hilde a dollar when you get to the front.  Then they'll tell you when you can go dance with the happy couple.  Let the dance begin," she finished.  

Duo and Hilde walked up to the happy newlyweds with smiles upon their faces.  The couples both kissed before pairing off with their respective dance partners.  It was another slow song, but not as heavy and meaningful as the last one.  The couples both struck up little conversations, of course, about their respective other halves.

Anicka laughed.  "I knew you were going to do that, Duo."

His shoulders bounced with an inward chuckle.  "That obvious, huh?"

"I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.  Tonight, it just seemed... inevitable.  I have a feeling you two aren't the only ones, either."

"And why do you say that?"

"Well you didn't see Heero giving you the full-on patented Yuy death glare through your speech, but I did.  And Relena practically had stars in her eyes."

"You're right," Duo said, "and he's mad at me because I proposed before he did.  We were having a sort of contest before the ceremony."

"You have no idea how alike you and Hilde are.  She was talking about getting married before the ceremony, too.  So was Relena.  I think they've already planned on having a joint wedding."

"And who suggested that?" Duo asked, looking down at his friend, knowing that Quatre had mentioned something of the sort to him and Heero.

"I did," she smiled, "Should I apologize?"

"No, because Quatre was saying the same thing."

Meanwhile, Quatre and Hilde were having a similar conversation.  "I'm very happy for the both of you," Quatre said.

Hilde looked up at him and smiled.  "You totally planned that, didn't you?"

He tilted his head to the side in a gesture of guilt.  "I had a hand in it.  It was mostly just predicting how my two closest friends would act, and, with Duo and Heero, it was pretty easy."

She smiled up at the taller man.  "Thank you so much.  And good luck, Quatre.  I really mean it.  You're married now, bud.  And there's a baby on the way."  She smiled even broader.  "Hell, you're lucky enough as it is."

The song ended and Duo and Hilde took up positions in the fronts of the lines.  The first two were Heero and Relena, followed by Iria and Evan, and so on.  The dollar dance went until the lines dwindled to nothing, and the Winners were congratulated each time they changed partners.  

After the dollar dance, everyone still celebrated.  Families with children left early.  As it turned out, Heero had asked Relena to marry him during the wedding song.  They kept it a slight secret until announcing it at the end of the night, but their engagement was obvious by the smiles on both of their faces.  The afterglow of the wedding faded slowly as the minutes and hours ticked by.  At around midnight, Quatre announced that he and his wife were leaving.  For the next half hour, news crews interviewed him and Anicka, then they left for home.

**Part 41**

Quatre and Anicka's limousine pulled up to their house at one o'clock in the morning.  For Anicka, it was far later than she should have been up.  She was exhausted.  Quatre helped her into the house, carrying her through the door.  She laughed at the symbolism.  "Quatre, you just took me across the threshold.  What does that mean?"

"I guess it means that I'm too sentimental," he answered, carrying her all the way to their room.  The room was still littered with all of the girls' things - shoeboxes, hangers, make-up kits, brushes, hair dryers and the like.  Quatre finally saw why he and the boys had been exiled to the bathroom before the wedding.  There simply was no room anywhere else for the girls to prepare.  He laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked as he set her at her chair by the vanity.

He looked at her with a smile on his face and a grin in his eyes.  "What exactly were you three doing in here?" he asked, chuckling a little.

"Oh, just getting ready," she surveyed the room, thinking of how it usually looked with its normally clean spaces everywhere, "Okay, so we kind of spread out a little bit.  It was worth it, though, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was worth it.  Hilde and Relena looked beautiful," he watched the face of his new wife, "and you looked absolutely gorgeous."  He walked over to the bed, which was strewn with towels and hangars.  He pushed them all off the end of the bed.  He then walked back over to Anicka and lifted her up.  "You still look gorgeous.  Are you tired?" he asked her, noticing the slight lines of fatigue around her eyes.

"Very," she answered, leaning into him.  He led her over to the bed and she sat down and took off her borrowed, blue slippers.  She rubbed her ankles absently, becoming aware of how swollen they were from dancing.  Quatre walked over to the closet, picked a hanger off of the floor and hung up his jacket.  He proceeded to take off his tuxedo pieces until all that was left was his shirt and pants.  Meanwhile, Anicka had peeled her nylons off and taken her hair down.  Her hair hung in soft, curly tendrils around her face.  Quatre turned to her and smiled again.  She plopped sideways onto the bed and smiled back.  "Who would have thought that we'd be so tired…"

"Not me," he answered.  He walked over to her and sat on the bed near her knees. He gently combed through her hair with his fingers.  Her eyes closed and her lips curved into a slight smile.  She sighed.  "Are you going to fall asleep, Anicka?"

"I'm trying not to but it's not working."

"You're still in your dress."

"Am I?"

"Yes, Anicka, you're still in your dress."

She opened her eyes a little.  "You're still in your tux kind of."

"I know that.  I thought it wouldn't be fitting of me to just undress and go straight to bed without seeing if my new wife needed any help getting out of her dress."

"I'm you're new wife, aren't I?"  She opened her eyes a little more and focused the brown slits onto his face.

"If your name isn't Mrs. Quatre Winner than I don't know what is."

"In that case," she paused, "could you help me up so I can get this dress off?"

He stood and offered her his hand.  "Of course, m'lady."  She took his hand and pushed herself to a sitting position.  He helped her stand and walk over to the closet.

"Could you unzip me?" she asked, after several futile efforts to grab the zipper behind her back.  He didn't answer, simply stood behind her and unzipped the dress.  She reached up in her customary manner and took the straps off of her shoulders, letting the dress fall to the floor and reveal the simple, sheer slip she had worn under it.  Quatre quickly unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the floor with her dress.  He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, almost violently.  She looked into his eyes and noticed a sort of lust there, mixed in with all of his love.  She stared at him, and finally said, "I know what you're thinking, Quatre, and I'm too tired for that tonight.  Tonight I just want to sleep by your side as your wife."

"For the first time?"

"And for many times after tonight," she smiled and kissed him softly.


End file.
